The World Health Organization estimates that 4.6 million people die every year from the causes directly attributable to air pollution. Barack Obama (2013) suggested that the emission from car is considered as the most challenging issue in the globe. Pollution is the introduction of harmful or poisonous substance in the environment. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light. Pollutants components can be either foreign substances or naturally occurring contaminants. The pollution of air and the land are common types of pollution in the present day. Environmental pollutions are caused by vehicles and industries, improper waste management which has led to several environment issues with multiple effects already being felt in the society.
In the technologically advanced world, there is rapid increase in economy and infrastructures are improving. Emissions from cars increase the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Many machines produces pollutions in the environment According to United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) (2015), motor vehicles collectively cause 75 percent of carbon monoxide pollution in the United States. Air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of substances including gases, particles, and biological molecules are introduced into the Earth's atmosphere. According to the State Global Air 2019 (April, 29, 2019) “Air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of substances including gases, particles, and biological molecules are introduced into the Earth's atmosphere”. Vaidya Nathan, R.C. & Roberta, C. observed that worst climate pollution is carbon dioxide as it is a greenhouse gas and acts as a blanket in the earth’s surface resulting in warming the earth. The number of industries is increasing every day. Everyone is trying towards enhancing the production. 'According to Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, to limit warming well below 2 degree Celsius, CO2 emissions should decline by about 20 per cent by 2030 and reach net zero around 2075; to limit warming below 1.5 degree Celsius, CO2 emissions should decline by 50 per cent by 2030 and reach net zero by around 2050'. This is a challenging issue because it is hard to stop industrialisation as it has become our utmost source of manufacture. The movement towards the enhancing economy has led to the pollution of the environment.
Furthermore improper waste management is the cause of pollution of the environment. The people has now lost common sense and they can’t care their own waste as they throw everywhere. Throwing of the wastes, sewage out flow in rivers and other water bodies are the cause of water pollution. Pink, D.H views water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater (April, 19, 2006, p.195). Water pollution results in degradation of aquatic ecosystem that creates imbalance in the nature. Water pollution can be grouped into surface water pollution. Marine pollution and nutrient pollution are subsets of water pollution. Sources of water pollution are either point sources or non-point sources. Point sources have one identifiable cause of the pollution, such as a storm drain, wastewater treatment plant or stream. Non-point sources are more diffuse, such as agricultural runoff. Pollution is the result of the cumulative effect over time. All plants and organisms living in or being exposed to polluted water bodies can be impacted. The effects can damage individual species and impact the natural biological communities as every species are part of the biodiversity. Meanwhile throwing of waste and using chemical fertilizers contaminates the soil. West, L. (March,26,2016) claimed soil contamination or soil pollution as part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity, agricultural chemicals or improper disposal of waste. The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (such as naphthalene and benzo(a)pyrene), solvents, pesticides, lead, and other heavy metals. Contamination is correlated with the degree of industrialization and intensity of chemical substance. The concern over soil contamination stems primarily from health risks, from direct contact with the contaminated soil, vapours from the contaminants, and from secondary contamination of water supplies within and underlying the soil. The improper waste management would cause air and land pollution which affects the society.
Additionally the environment pollution would cause several impacts in the society. With increase in the pollution, it affects the climate. Research done by John, H., Seinfeld and Spyros N.P (September, 10, 2017) supports air pollution and climate change are closely related. As well as driving climate change, the main cause of CO2 emissions, the extraction and burning of fossil fuels is also a major source of air pollutants. Air pollutants contribute to climate change by affecting the amount of incoming sunlight that is reflected or absorbed by the atmosphere, with some pollutants warming and others cooling the Earth. These short-lived climate-forcing pollutants (SLCPs) include methane, black carbon, ground-level ozone, and sulfate aerosols. They have significant impacts on the climate: black carbon and methane in particular are among the top contributors to global warming after CO2. Due to climate change and the pollution, there would evolve many diseases creating problems in the society. There is unusual weather pattern that results in multiple natural hazard such as landslides, fire, flood and windstorm threatening the people. As per first WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health (2018), WHO Director General Rd. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called air pollution a “silent public health emergency”. Approximately 7 million premature deaths annually are due to the effects of air pollution, about 4 million of which are due to ambient (outdoor) air pollution. Beyond shortening lives, air pollution can negatively impact our day-to-day lives, causing respiratory illness and leading to days of missed work and school. Children are especially vulnerable to the impacts of air pollution: exposure to air pollution in early childhood, when the lungs are still developing, can lead to reduced lung capacity that persists through adulthood. Moreover pollution would directly or indirectly harm our health due poor cleanliness and the air we breathe is impure. The pollution of environment would affect climate which as a result would impact the society.
In nutshell, pollution of environment is a serious problem which affects the society in several ways. Contamination of air, land and water for human desires and economic prosperity has led to serious threat on climate. Establishment of large number of industries, poor waste management and other environmental issues would ultimately impact the society. These problems can be reduced by limiting human desire and being a good citizen.