A Study Of Soil Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay

Soil is very important to us, but will polluting it harm all living organisms? Will we all die looking for food? Soil pollution is when toxic compounds, chemicals, salt, or disease causing agents are found in soil. It is mainly due to chemicals in herbicides and pesticides. This results in the change of the soil quality which is likely to affect the normal use of soil, plant growth, and animal health. But when people don’t think about is the harm of soil pollution on the environment and on animals and humans. When the soil is polluted it becomes unproductive and there becomes a lack of plants. If there is a lack of plants many animals can die. When animals and plants die humans won’t find anything to eat and will die!!!! So that means that humans will become extinct!!!! Can we help save our earth before disaster happens to it?

Soil covers large parts of the dry-land surface of the globe. Without it, the earth’s surface would be barren rock and sand and could not support life. Soil is composed of chemically weathered rock mixed with humus, partially decomposed organic matter. It also contains atmospheric gases, water, and living organisms. The sources of life, which are air, rock, water, and sunlight, come together in the top layer of the soil. There is an importance of the soil in sustaining terrestrial life on the planet. To understand these think of the soil’s important part in a number of the natural cycles and interactions on which all life depends on such as the Carbon cycle, the Nitrogen cycle, the Oxygen cycle, and the Mineral cycle. Soil is also used in making plants grow healthy so we can eat them and other animals too, making pots, constructions and arts. Obviously soil is the medium necessary for plant life. And since human beings live on plants and animals, it’s easy to see why soil is a very important resource of life.

Sources of pollution

Many factors are the reason of soil pollution. The main thing is the use of pesticide. Farmers use pesticide and herbicides to kill the insects and bacteria in the soil. These bacteria play a very important role in delivering nutrients. If the soil doesn’t receive these nutrients it becomes unproductive and polluted. Also when factories dump their wastes in rivers, this pollutes the soil located in the banks. Acid rain is actually another cause. When it rains, the acids reach the soil and damage it. Then we have the decomposition of wastes. This is a very natural operation. As the wastes decompose they seep through the soil and contaminate it. Last, chemicals such as nitrate and ammonia associated with livestock along with some kinds of metal are one of the main reason of soil pollution.

Effect of pollution on human

Soil pollution can harm the health of many people. That happens through the inhalation of vapor that comes out of the contaminated soil or direct contact with soil. Congenital disorder is one of diseases that are a result of soil pollution. Some of the common diseases are kidney damage, headaches, nausea, fatigue, eye irritation and skin rash. One of the most dangerous things that soil pollution does is if it reaches water it sends chemicals to the water and causes it to become polluted (water pollution). People drink this water and get many diseases. It also causes air pollution. So when the air is polluted it can cause lung problems.

Effect of pollution on environment

Soil pollution can lead to many different kinds of other pollution. First it can cause water pollution. That happens when the harmful chemicals of the soil reach the water and pollute it. So when the water is polluted it kills the living creatures in it and it kills the animals that drink from it. Second it causes air pollution. That happens when the water is polluted by the contaminated soil; the harmful chemicals evaporate and pollute the air causing diseases to many people. Last of all crops stop growing in the contaminated soil and so many of the lands become unproductive. And so the harmful effects of soil pollution effect the environment badly and we have to find a solution for it.

How to overcome soil pollution

To overcome soil pollution we should limit buildings in sensitive areas, removing polluted soil from human sites, stop littering, and stop burning fossils and use solar electricity instead. We should also reduce the use of pesticide and herbicide and other harmful chemicals. And also stop dumping garbage wastes in rivers because that pollutes the soil on the banks. Most importantly we shouldn’t kill the bacteria in the soil because it plays a very important role in sending nutrients to the soil. So now anyone can overcome soil polluition, even us. We can start by not polluting our water sources and streets because eventually most of the other kinds of pollution lead to soil pollution.

Conclusion

To be able to stop soil pollution, we think that farmers should reduce the usage of pesticides and chemicals on crops. Even though the chemicals play an important role in the growth of plants, the overuse of them leads to soil pollution. Instead of chemicals, maybe farmers could use manures and bio-fertilization as alternatives. Another way is to control the growth of weeds. Weeds are the plants that grow along the side of the main plant and bring various minerals into the soil. To prevent it we should cover the soil with newspaper or plastic sheets. Reforestation and recycling are also ways to prevent soil pollution. A final way to stop soil pollution is to prevent factories from dumping their wastes in rivers, which pollutes the soil in the banks.

Sources

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110400/usr/www/tqteams/tqic/2001/C0110400/4cs%20folder/soil.html

http://www.bcb.uwc.ac.za/Sci_Ed/grade10/ecology/conservation/poll.htm

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