Pollution

In the last decade the alarm at environmental degradation has reached the crescendo of a battle cry. Issues of conservation of environment and ecological imbalances have led to identifying endangered species threatened by extinction. Tampering with nature has crossed all boundaries today for reasons of commerce.

There are several factors like industrialization, urbanization and commercialization that have led to these issues that are sustainable for central development. One needs to create a congenial balance between technological advancement and the spaces and paces of nature.

In every society, the care and the education of the young is a social responsibility. Socializing the children to adult roles is an instinctual form of learning in multiple domains and layered forms. Children have often voiced their concern for conserving petrol through television advertisements, campaign for green life, avoiding the use of polybags, through many school based programs. We adults too need to take action with responsibility.

Children have the greatest stake in the preservation of the environment and its judicious management for sustainable development as their survival and development depends on it. We borrow environmental capital from future generations with no intention or prospect of repaying .They can damn us for our super thrift ways, but hey can never collect our debt to them. We act as we do because we can get away with it, future generations do not vote, they have no political or financial power, they cannot challenge our decisions. But the results of the present profligacy are presently closing all the options for future generations. Most of the today’s decision makers will be dead before the planet feels the heavier effects of acid rain, global warming, ozone depletion or widespread desertification and species lost. Most of the young voters of today will be still alive when all these disaster’s actually struck.

The key concern is to identify methods and strategies for building a positive relationship with the nature and the natural phenomenon occurrences. For future action it is necessary to comprehend perceptions of nature and conservation of varied forms of life. Besides crisis management societies should have many more traditions expressing their recognition of nature to sustain the interdependence of species as also living in harmony with the splendor of mother earth.

A set of emerging actions for creating appropriate methods to live in a resource sustainable relation can help globally to stay in tangent with the natural physical environment.

Wars have a devastating effect on the environment. Environmental destruction has been used as a punishment for defeated opponents in war. Military activities cause damage to the landscape, soil, ground water and other natural resources.

The environmental impacts of modern war can be grouped into three areas:

1. The consequences of preparing for war.

2. The immediate effects of war

3. The aftermath of war.

Whilst preparing for war military bases, especially airfields require large areas of land. Much of this area is ecologically valuable. Establishment of military bases leads to the destruction of any fauna perceived as hindering such activity. e.g. Birds congregating on runways.

For training purposes large tracts of land are set apart for military exercises, missile exercises, bombing and artillery practice. Large areas for testing warfare products and nuclear weapons are used. Millions of tons of unused weapons and ammunitions await destruction as fresh land is used to store newer weapons. All of these activities degrade

the natural ecosystems.

Repair and maintenance of many installations and gear are seriously not enough. Nuclear waste is a worldwide problem that won’t go away, without causing environmental tragedy on a vast scale. Toxic chemicals which go together with all weapon production have travelled round the globe in the atmosphere and ocean currents; as well as water and air, they harm earth, plants that grow in it, and subsistent domestic animals and wildlife. Human exposure to nuclear and chemical tests and factories, or via the food chain, has resulted in miscarriages, malformed fetuses, high infant death and inborn disorders, and complex disturbing and life-shortening syndromes.

In order to cripple an enemy’s ability to wage war, industrial facilities are being targeted. This increases the chances of ecological damage by using chemical weapons. When a heavy bomb goes off, it destroys not only the flora and fauna but the soil as well which takes thousands of years to regenerate.

The urgent danger of life and property and the prospect of long-term hazards of war lead to the movement of people to safer areas. This has put a remarkable strain on the resources of the entire region. Despite the long inheritance of ecological destruction caused by war, the standards set by most conventions and protocols have proven not as much as necessary in preventing and redressing environmental dreadful conditions brought on by war.

The pollution produced by trains is faced by each and every citizen as well as all living & non living organisms in the country. It is a reason of concern and it is abandoned by the in charge authorities without bothering for the physical condition of the citizens.

Railways have provided a very good transportation facility for the commuters since more than 100 years in India and it has reached to every one and every part of the countryside. It is really extremely noticeable. One thing which should have been well thought-out is the worsening of the neighboring environment from where these trains pass. It is causing grave destruction to the villages, towns, mountains etc by means of a very unhygienic environment to inhale. It is a nature of pollution, which is seen by one and all, felt its unpleasant odors at every station and every where in environment.

Railways are adding to the already existing pollution in the environment, as they do not contain a system to collect the sewage that passes from the train directly in to the open.

The faecal matter excreted by the passenger is flushed from the train directly into the open air. The birds and flies sit on it and the contaminated matter sticks on their legs and when these flies and birds sit on uncovered food or when they land on houses or water resources like rivers and lakes, it further pollutes the air. The matter further contaminates the air and the neighboring places where the fragmented matter is left in to smaller particles.

Hence the air gets contaminated and harms the environment as well as all the species I the environment.  To avoid these pollution railways need to develop a technology to collect the sewage in the collection pipe below the WC’s of every toilets and throwing away of the same at the stations, where provisions of chambers are made, which are then collected by the Municipal drains of that particular city’s system. This will help the surroundings inside the station in good physical shape, odorless, aesthetic view, good looking and save everyone from feeling embarrassed when the train passes the platforms or when a commuter travels in it.

Mining is done to dig out natural resources or fossil fuels from deep deposits in soil. Mining is harsh, hazardous and a very costly method. It includes risks of work-related hazards and accidents.

The ecological damage caused by mining activities begins when the topsoil as well as the plant life is distant from the mining area to haul out minerals. The huge quantities of debris along with big scars upset and spoil the aesthetic worth of the region and make it lying on your front to soil erosion.

Mining disturbs the usual hydrological processes and also pollutes the ground water. Some heavy metals also get leached in to the ground water and taint it posing health hazards.

The acidic water draining from the mines over and over again contaminates the streams and the lakes. The acidic water is unsafe for many forms of aquatic life. Sometimes radioactive substances also are liable to pollute the water bodies all the way through mine wastes and kills marine life.

In order to purify and separate the metal the metal from other impurities in the ore, a course of action called as smelting is used which releases large quantities of air pollutants, damaging the vegetation close at hand and most important to environmental health impacts.

Subsidence of land is mainly associated with underground mining. Subsidence of mining areas results in tilting of buildings, cracks in the walls of the houses, buckling of roads, bending of rail tracks and leaking of gas from cracked pipelines leading to serious disasters.

Most of the miners have a medical condition from various respiratory and skin diseases due to regular contact to the on the edge particulate matter and toxic substances. Miners working in different kinds of mines are ill with from asbestosis, black lung diseases etc.

Mining is compulsory for nations to have ample and trustworthy supplies of mineral deposits and resources to meet their trade and industry and protection needs at up to standard environmental, energy, and financially viable costs. Fuel minerals, such as coal and uranium, must be processed using chemicals and other treatments to produce the quality of fuel preferred. Mining activity needs to get more constructive towards the miners and their families and help treat and avoid medicinal hazards for a hale and hearty living.

When you purchase gold next time, make it a point to thank the miners.

You all know how man has misused and destroyed nature for the sake of material progress. Today all life on our planet is threatened through

· Atmospheric pollution

· Noise pollution

· Deforestation and many other dangers.

You can learn many simple ways in which you can contribute to help the nature. Work has begun in India and many other countries to repair the damage that man has done to nature. Your first step should be to keep your surroundings at home and outside neat and clean. When many of you do so, it can be a big help.

Save water by using only when it is necessary and use the minimum quantity needed for the task. This is necessary because water conservation plays a very big part in saving the environment. This is because if we use too much of groundwater, the water table goes down and all life suffers from too little water. Plant trees in groups or by you at home, school or in the neighborhood .More trees means more rains and more rains means more trees again.

Garbage is a big environmental hazard. It causes the whole area to smell and becomes a breeding ground for diseases bearing germs and mosquitoes. This leads to atmospheric and earth pollution.

We should learn to save paper by writing on both sides, avoiding large margins, using slates and blackboards for rough work, using all the pages in the notebooks before discarding them and avoiding overuse of tissues paper plates and cups. This is important to do because paper is made from wood pulp and so trees are cut in hundreds to make paper. By saving paper we are saving trees from getting destroyed.

Help keep your homes clean. Form groups and clean the school and your street with some guidance from teachers, parents and environmentalists. This is necessary because cleaner the surroundings the less the atmospheric pollution and better the health of the community.

If we make an effort to maintain compost pit to collect fallen leaves, uncooked food, at school or at home. A composite pit becomes a rich source of manure over time.

Save electricity by switching off unnecessary lights and fans and use electrical gadgets only when necessary. The energy conserved by saving electricity can be put to better use.

Help reduce noise pollution by listening to music and T.V at a low volume and by not buying or using too many noisy things like crackers and loud toys. If every one attempts this noise pollution will decrease and general health will certainly improve.

Never hurt animals or watch them being hurt. If you see any form of cruelty to animals report the act to animal welfare organizations. Balance in nature can be maintained if we respect all life forms.

Let us learn to become sensitive to the pain and suffering of all forms of life. Then alone can we live up to the true glory of being born as human beings.

We as individuals live in an environment. No one can exist in a vacuum. The environment and the quality of our life are closely linked together. If the environment I is polluted then we also suffer. We have always had a symbiotic relationship with the environment, yet somewhere in the maze of materialism we seemingly have lost our traditional values and have taken the environment for granted. All our actions of commercialization have brutalized the environment.

The advances made by the mankind from the primitive to the modern times and from localized to the global consciousness, has cost us immensely. Now to conserve the purity of environment we have to start the process of regeneration. (i.e.) the process of repairing the environment without destroying the economy and improving the economy without destroying the environment.

Though the balance is not easy to strike, yet it is catching up around the world. Each country, community and individual is unique in itself, yet we need to generate their interest and consciousness and motivate them all towards working in the same direction.

In all areas of life we need to take a fresh look. World Environment Day is observed on 5^th June. It has been successful to a certain extent to draw attention of people towards their own habitat and to emphasize their urgent need to change altitudes and behaviors. This is our earth, our future, we need to save it.

Growing population is creating tremendous pressure both on the land and the sea. Now we have to start a process of change which improves people’s quality of life while protecting the natural and the human resources and which future generation can also rely on. We have to start a holistic approach towards the entire problem. Renewable resources like fresh water, forests, top soil and marine fish stocks continue to be used at rates far beyond their natural rates of regeneration, a solution which is clearly miserable.

We in India have this very strange attitude of keeping our houses clean and ignore the dirt around our immediate neighborhood; in fact we also tend to add to that. Hence there is a need to spread awareness about keeping a clean environment. For this purpose we have to start with the younger generation. Everyone has to become aware of the environmental problems to control the pollution level. It has to be understood from the early age that caring for self is like caring for our own neighborhood, not battering around and controlling the noise pollution, maintaining our vehicles in good condition and using recycled materials as far as possible. Its time we take this step toward adopting an eco-friendly lifestyle.