Land Pollution

Definition of Land Pollution

 

Soil pollution refers to an increased level of harmful human-made chemicals in the natural soil environment.Industrial pollutants and pesticides are two major soil pollution sources.Soil pollution can lead to serious water contamination and therefore create huge health issues.Cleaning soil pollution is expensive and (usually) long-term process because it requires advanced geology, hydrology, chemistry, and even computer modeling skills.Heavy agricultural machinery used by many formers makes soil more susceptible to pollution because it negatively affects the density and compactness of soil.If not treated properly soil pollution could significantly reduce crop yields in years to come which could lead to future food shortages and more hunger in the world.Soil pollution is especially big issue in China where contaminated water is often being used to irrigate very large amount of arable landIf soil is polluted with heavy metals such as chromium and lead this can lead to higher incidence of cancer and leukemia in people.The excessive soil pollution can also cause major problem for ecosystems by affecting the lower pyramid levels of the food chain and disrupting its proper functioning.There are several different options used to clean polluted soil. These include excavating soil and taking it to a disposal site, aeration of soils, thermal and bio remediation, etc.Soil pollution can also lead to soil erosion by decreasing the level of natural nutrients in the soil. Such decrease would cause reduced plant life in given region and without enough plants this would further result in soil erosion.Even the short term exposure to some harmful chemicals in soil can lead to headaches, nausea, fatigue and skin rashes.Contaminated soil isn't a safe place to grow food on because the poisonous chemicals may reach into human body once people digest the affected food.Preventing soil pollution is much easier than to clean it. This is the main reason why soil needs to be constantly tested for dangerous chemicals. Only clean and healthy soil can produce healthy food.

Causes of Land Pollution

• Erosion: The natural processes of erosion can lead to severe pollution as sediment finds its way into streams, rivers and oceans. As the sediment dumps into the oceans, it can upset fragile aquatic eco-systems and marine life.  
• Floods: A raging river swollen by rain or a heavy snow thawing too quickly create land pollution. Rivers that run over the banks into communities sweep away automobiles, homes, propane tanks and hundreds of other pollutants that eventually find their way into the soil once the waters recede.
• Forest fires: Lightning strikes can create massive forest fires as easily as one created by a careless camper or passerby. Fire destroys entire forests and impacts the wildlife dependent upon the vegetation for its sustenance.
• Heavy metals: Many people are surprised to learn that soil can be contaminated from natural elements such as heavy metals that include lead, arsenic, chromium, selenium and cadmium. These can also leach into water supplies; however, the instances are fairly rare.
• Radon: This is a serious pollutant gas that appears naturally in soil as a result of the uranium breakdown process. When inhaled, this gas can cause lung cancer.
• Storm erosion: Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes destroy manmade structures and carry contaminates and hazardous materials into waterways and oceans. These pollutants disrupt the natural order of marine life and aquatic systems. 

Effects of Land Pollution

•  Effects on Climate

Land pollution can affect the general environment of the Earth. Land pollutions leads to loss in the forest cover of Earth. This is in turn going to affect the amount of rain. Less rains mean lesser vegetation. The effect of all different kinds of pollution will eventually lead to problems like acid rains, greenhouse effect, global warming. All of these problems have already initiated and need to be curbed before the situation runs out of control.

• Extinction of Species

One of the major causes of concern is the extinction of species. Species are pushed towards endangerment and extinction primarily by two processes. Habitat fragmentation is the fragmentation of the natural habitat of an organism; cause primarily by urban sprawl. Habitat destruction, on the other hand, is when land clearing adversely affects animals special such that their natural habitat is lost. Both the actions can cause some species to go extinct and others to become invasive.

•  Biomagnification

Biomagnification is the process in which certain non-biodegradable substances go on accumulating in the food-chain (in one or more species). The most common example is of methylmercury in fish and mercury in eagles. Not only does biomagnification put the particular species at risk, it puts all the species above and below it at risk, and ultimately affects the food pyramid.

• Effects on Biodiversity

Species extinction and biomagnification is going to overthrow the balance of nature very significantly. The main reason for this is disturbance created in the food chain. To give you a very simple example - on account of biomagnification of mercury in eagles, they might go extinct in the subsequent years. However, we know eagles prey on snakes. Less (or no) eagles will then result in more number of snakes!

As you may have realized, land pollution is indeed going to affect a lot more things than we though it will. Hence, I leave you with some corrective measure you can take on a personal level to reduce land pollution.

Encourage organic farming - buy organic food.
Proper garbage disposal - separate your garbage before you give it to the garbage collector; and strictly say NO to plastic.
Encourage recycling - buy recycled products, notebooks, paper, etc.
Restrict use of herbicides and pesticides - they are not only used in farm, but in your own backyard as well.

If we reduce our contribution to garbage and litter, therein itself we will be able to significantly reduce land pollution and probably curb it entirely in the near future. Also do realize this isn't only about land pollution; it is about all kinds of pollution. We need to take steps to prevent damaging our Earth. We have no other place to go.

Solutions of Land  Pollution

Even a layman with a basic understanding about land pollution facts, will be able to come up with solutions for the same. Such solutions can be derived from the causes themselves. The following are some of the solutions for land pollution.

As the most common cause for land pollution is waste disposal, most of the control measures are associated with that. Proper waste disposal is one of the golden rules for curbing land pollution. This is much more important in case of disposal of toxic waste products. Industries must follow the laws with regard to waste disposal.

One of the major land pollution solutions is recycling. Apart from reducing the amount of waste products in the landfills, it also helps in curbing the dumping of non-biodegradable waste on the Earth. Recycling is also beneficial in lowering other forms of pollution, cost savings and savings of energy resources.

You must also try to reuse materials, if possible. Reusing is always beneficial than buying new ones. For example, you may use plastic and cardboard containers for further use. Otherwise store them and sell them for recycling. You may also make some money by refraining from buying new products and also by selling the unwanted materials for recycling.

So, each and every individual can contribute for this good cause, by taking efforts to curb land pollution. You may also reduce the use of non-biodegradable materials. For example, you may carry paper or cloth bags with you, so as to avoid taking a plastic carry bag from the shop. If you can, switch over to biodegradable materials. Use glass or metal products instead of plastic ones.