One of the greatest problems that the world is facing today is that of environmental pollution, which has adverse effect on all forms of living organisms in the biosphere. Environmental pollution is the contamination of the environment and surroundings like air, water, soil by the discharge of harmful substances. It is a direct or indirect change in the physical, chemical or biological aspects of environment which makes it harmful for humans, for other living organisms, affecting adversely the cultural and natural assets or general environment.
The basic cause of pollution is man himself. He has befouled the clean land, water and air initially provided by nature. This has been caused through overuse, misuse and mismanagement of natural resources to fulfill human needs. When human population was small and technology was in its infancy, environment could easily absorb human and industrial wastes. With increase in human population and great advancement in technology in the recent past, the waste materials have multiplied in amount as well as in kind, and this has resulted in contamination of environment. We have started pumping out resources at a rate much higher than these resources can be re-generated. This has created so much of stress on our planet that our environment has started degrading and we all see its effects as of today in the form of global warming and climate change. The rapidly growing human population, rapid urbanization, intensive agriculture and industrialization together with human activities resulted in environmental pollution. A surprising amount of pollution starts at home. The car we drive, the household and personal care products we buy, the chemicals and equipments we use to keep our lawn and garden in shape, all contribute to water and air pollution. It is not the wastes alone which pollute the environment, certain useful materials may also contaminate the environment. Fertilizers, for example, increase the fertility of the soil, but pollute water if carried there by rain.
Environmental pollution is reaching worrying proportions worldwide. All countries of the world feel concerned about it and interacting with each other to tackle it in appropriate ways. The mad race among nations over the globe for development jeopardized the health of man itself. Progress in agriculture and industry is taken as a general criterion of development of any country. This craze resulted into unlimited exploration of every bit of natural resources. The developed countries have been in a mad race to exploit every bit of natural resources to convert them into goods for their comfort, and to export them to needy developing world. In doing so, the industrialized countries dump lot of materials in their environment which becomes polluted. Such activities of mankind had adverse effect on all forms of living organisms. Some of the most important harmful effects are infant mortality, respiratory disorders, allergy, malignancies, cardiovascular disorders, increase in stress, mental disorders, chronic diseases and various other harmful effects.
Though the environment already suffers, there are things we can all do to help Mother Nature to heal and grow. Everyone is a stakeholder as we are all inhabitants of this one and only mother earth. Each person can contribute something to advance environmental pollution mitigation measures by caring for our resources and subsequently for ourselves and ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come. By embracing the concept of “reduce, reuse, and recycle,” we can continuously learn new ways that can help us to live more sustainably. Making simple changes in our daily lifestyle won’t cost much but can prove beneficial for the environment. Education and awareness can encourage people to reduce their impact on the environment through more efficient use of resources. Though many countries have taken several steps to promote environmental conservation and improve environmental health but unless we do not reduce our consumption of resources that are proving lethal for our environment, we will not be able to protect our environment. Let us hope that with government’s action and public cooperation, pollution, the major environmental problem at present, will be controlled in the near future.
Mariya Batool is pursuing honours in Environmental Science from Cluster University, Srinagar