Physical environmental pollution: types, sources, examples

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Every year there are fewer and fewer places on our planet that claim to be "environmentally friendly". Active human activity leads to the fact that the ecosystem is constantly exposed to pollution, and this continues throughout the existence of mankind. However, in recent decades, scientists from different countries have become interested in the problem of physical environmental pollution. Numerous initiative groups are struggling to find out the causes of a sharp change in the climate on the planet and the consequences for all living things that it brings. Unfortunately, a person cannot completely stop physical pollution at this stage of his development. But if in the near future its degree does not decrease, it will be possible to speak of a global catastrophe, which will first of all affect all people. Today we will talk in great detail about the physical type of environmental pollution that causes great harm to nature and all living organisms on our planet. Earth.

Question terminology

It can be said that the entire history of human existence is connected with environmental pollution. It so happened that even at the dawn of civilization, people began to introduce certain elements into nature that pollute it.

Environmentalists are looking into this issue more deeply. They argue that any introduction of elements alien to the environment does not just remain in it, but begins to interact with the established ecosystem. And this leads to major changes. Their consequences may be the extinction of some animal species, a change in their habitats, mutations, and so on. It is enough to look into the Red Book to understand how much the environment has changed over several centuries.

However, it cannot be said that all these changes were caused only by physical types of pollution. In science, there is a division into natural and physical pollutants. The first group can safely include any cataclysms and natural disasters. For example, a volcanic eruption causes tons of ash and gas to be released into the atmosphere, which immediately affects the environment. Such pollution includes floods, tsunamis and other natural phenomena. Despite their destructive actions, over time, the ecosystem comes into balance, as it has the ability to self-regulate. What can not be said about human intervention in the environment.

According to the accepted terminology, physical pollution refers to the by-products of human life caused by technological progress. Of course, no one will argue that in recent years, technology has stepped far forward, making our life more comfortable. But who knows the true price of this progress? Perhaps only ecologists trying to find out the degree of physical pollution of water or, for example, air. Moreover, despite numerous studies, scientists still do not have exact data on the scale of the disaster.

Very often the physical type of pollution is also called "anthropogenic". In our article, we will use both terms equally. Therefore, the reader should understand that anthropogenic pollution is the same changes made to the environment by man in the course of his economic activity.

Types of anthropogenic pollution

In order to understand how much a person influences nature, it is necessary to have an idea not only about the physical type of environmental pollution, but also about its classification. Scientists take this issue very seriously and at the moment they distinguish several rather voluminous groups that reveal all the changes made to the ecosystem by man.

So what should be understood by the term "physical pollution"? Chemical and biological many people call first. However, this is not the whole list included in our term. Unfortunately, it is much wider and more varied. Physical environmental pollution includes the following types:

• thermal;
• light;
• noise;
• electromagnetic;
• radioactive (radiation);
• vibrating;
• mechanical;
• biological;
• geological;
• chemical.

An impressive list, isn't it? At the same time, types of physical pollution of the environment are periodically replenished with new positions. After all, science also does not stand still, and with each new discovery about our planet comes awareness of the harm that people regularly cause to nature.

Heat pollution

Thermal is the most common and large-scale physical pollution caused by the economic activities of mankind. It was not considered seriously for a very long time, and only after scientists started talking about the greenhouse effect and the steady increase in temperature on the planet, the world community began to think about this problem.

However, it has already affected almost every person living in or near the metropolis. And this, as practice shows, is the majority of people on our Earth. The factors of physical pollution of this type, which caused changes in the environment, were primarily urban communications, underground construction and the activities of industrial enterprises that emit tons of gas, smoke and harmful substances into the atmosphere.

In this regard, the average air temperature in the cities has increased significantly. For people, this threatens with serious consequences, which almost every city dweller feels in one way or another. The fact is that an increase in temperature causes a change in humidity and wind direction. In turn, these changesmake cold days in the metropolis even colder, and the heat is simply unbearable. In addition to banal discomfort, this causes a violation of heat transfer in people, which in the chronic stage provokes problems with blood circulation and breathing. Also, thermal pollution becomes an unwitting reason for diagnosing arthrosis and arthritis in fairly young people. Previously, these diseases were considered the lot of the elderly, but now the disease is noticeably younger.

Physical pollution of the environment, accompanied by a change in temperature, is changing the ecosystem of nearby water bodies. Some species of inhabitants die in them, the number of parasites and other harmful organisms increases. Fish have to change their spawning grounds, which leads to a decrease in the population and other problems. In addition, scientists have noticed that in the area of underground heating mains, where the temperature is always above normal, the number of microorganisms that cause corrosion of metal elements of various structures is growing.

Light pollution

Physical environmental pollution caused by poor lighting seems to many people to be minor and not causing much harm. But this opinion is erroneous and can cost a lot, first of all, to the person himself.

Sources of this type of physical pollution are:

• illuminations in megacities at night;
• directional powerful light sources;
• lighting up to the sky;
• group illuminations concentrated in oneplace and often changing the intensity of the glow.

Every resident of the city is familiar with such problems, because they are an integral part of technological progress. However, they completely change the natural biorhythms of all living things that fall within the range of pollution.

Since a person is a part of nature, his life is subject to certain biorhythms. Bright light at night, accompanying the city dweller everywhere, knocks down his internal clock and the body ceases to understand when it is necessary to sleep and stay awake. This leads to constant insomnia, depression, irritability, chronic fatigue syndrome and other disorders of the nervous system. Some of them further develop into psychological problems that cause an increase in suicides. Unfortunately, this is a typical picture for modern cities.

All living organisms suffer from light pollution, but especially the inhabitants of water bodies. Usually, under the influence of a constant light source, the water begins to become cloudy. This reduces the penetration of sunlight during the daytime, as a result, plant photosynthesis and the biological rhythms of other inhabitants of ponds and lakes are disturbed. Often this even leads to the death of the reservoir.

Noise pollution

Physical pollution caused by noise, doctors consider the most dangerous for humans. Almost everything that surrounds us in the city becomes its source: transport, public places, household appliances, intrusive advertising, and so on.

Has been withdrawn a long time agopermissible noise measures that are safe for humans and other living organisms:

• in residential premises during the day should be no more than forty decibels, at night - no more than thirty;
• in industrial premises and other workplaces, the permissible range ranges between fifty-six and eighty decibels.

Noise of 90 dB is considered extremely annoying for a person. This effect has an unpleasant property to accumulate in the body, imperceptibly causing hearing impairment, mental disorders, diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems. And this is not the whole list of problems that noise pollution brings with it in cities.

It is noteworthy that noise with sudden changes in volume causes more harm to the body. However, it is with him that residents of megacities most often face. Indeed, in apartment buildings, doors are constantly slamming, there are quarrels between neighbors and dogs are barking. And all this is perfectly audible through thin walls with poor sound insulation.

Today, scientists are seriously talking about noise disease, which leads to a complete imbalance of the body, accompanied by numerous symptoms. The most common are:

• excessive sweating;
• cold limbs;
• dull headache;
• loss of appetite;
• increasing irritability and aggressiveness;
• trouble concentrating;
• sleep disorders.

Doctors consider the fear of silence to be a side effect of noise disease. It affects most of the inhabitants of large cities. With complete sound isolation, a person experiences anxiety, panic, confusion, weakness and oppression of intellectual activity.

Electromagnetic pollution

We are all surrounded by various electrical devices and structures that generate electromagnetic fields. We think many people know that refrigerators, microwave ovens, televisions and other household appliances create additional electromagnetic fields in our home that affect the he alth of all family members.

However, they are by no means the main examples of physical pollution in this category, because first of all we should talk about high-voltage lines, television and radar stations, electric vehicles and so on. All industrial facilities, without which we cannot imagine our lives, create electromagnetic fields that are dangerous for any biological species.

Depending on the intensity of the radiation, this effect may be physically imperceptible or cause a feeling of warmth of an indefinite location and even a burning sensation. This effect leads to a malfunction of the central nervous system of any biological species, as well as the endocrine system. In turn, these problems reduce potency and reduce the ability to conceive and produce he althy offspring to almost zero.

The global scientific community tends to attribute the exacerbation of a number of diseases that were previously diagnosed much less frequently to electromagnetic pollution:

• cancer;
• mental disorders;
• sudden infant death syndrome;
• Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Whether this is so, scientists have yet to find out, however, completely different sources can confirm that in recent years the he alth of urban residents has noticeably deteriorated.

Radioactive and radiation contamination

Radioactive sources also belong to the physical type of pollution. The development of nuclear energy has led to a technological breakthrough, but at the same time has become the cause of powerful pollution, the area of which is only increasing over time in different countries of the world.

Scientists say that the radiation background of the planet is steadily increasing and it is the man who is trying to put the atom at his service that is to blame. For example, in the process of testing nuclear weapons, radiation aerosols are released. In the future, they settle on the surface of the earth, forming an additional source of dangerous radiation for biological species.

People actively use the atom in energy, which leads to the formation of a large amount of radioactive waste, which is not always properly disposed of. At the same time, warehouses for nuclear power plant equipment that have served their time and nuclear fuel disposal facilities are being formed. And, of course, accidents at nuclear power plants pose the greatest danger to the ecosystem.

The most devastating is the Chernobyl accident, its consequences still make themselves felt by empty cities and villages, diseases and mutations. But what the destruction of the Fukushima reactor will turn out to mankind has yet to befind out for future generations.

Vibration pollution

Vibrational physical pollution of the environment is found everywhere. It is caused by vibrations of different frequencies, acting not only on living organisms, but also on metal and other structures.

The cause of such pollution are objects created by man to facilitate certain actions. These can be pumping and cooling stations, turbines or vibration platforms. A few kilometers away from these facilities, vibrational pollution is characterized by a very high background. Therefore, most buildings are subject to destruction. Vibration propagates through metal structures, which leads to uneven shrinkage of the structure. Often the balance of all engineering systems is disturbed, and in the future there is a danger of a sudden collapse. At the same time, people can be inside the object.

Vibration also affects the human body. It interferes with normal life. People cannot work and rest as usual, which leads to various diseases. The nervous system suffers first, and later the body reaches the stage of complete exhaustion.

Vibration pollution also affects animals. Environmentalists claim that they usually try to leave the danger zone. And this sometimes leads to a decrease in the population and the death of entire species of living organisms.

Mechanical pollution

Scientists have been sounding the alarm for years aboutphysical pollution of the environment of this category. It is considered extremely insidious, and its consequences are still difficult to predict in full.

At first glance, it is difficult to see a great danger in the emission of dust into the atmosphere, landfill, swamping or drainage of some areas. However, on a global scale, these actions look very different. They lead to a wide range of environmental problems that affect every person and every species that lives on Earth.

For example, many scientists believe that mechanical pollution of the environment is the cause of frequent dust storms and the disappearance of water bodies in China. Today, almost every country is struggling with a number of problems caused by this type of human intervention in the ecosystem. However, environmentalists' forecasts are disappointing - in the coming years, humanity will face even larger environmental disasters caused by thoughtless economic activities of people.

Biological pollution

Such physical types of pollution as biological ones, under unfortunate circumstances, can cause an epidemic and a mass pestilence of people and animals. Scientists divide this category into two types, each of which is dangerous to humans:

• Bacterial contamination. It is provoked by microorganisms introduced into the ecosystem from outside. The source is poorly treated sewage, industrial discharges into water bodies and their banal pollution. All this can cause an outbreak of cholera,hepatitis and other infections. In addition, the forced relocation of some animal species to a new habitat falls under the category of bacterial pollution. In the absence of natural enemies of this type, such actions can cause unforeseen consequences.
• Organic pollution. This category is identical to the previous one, but pollution occurs with substances that provoke decay. As a result, the reservoir can be completely ruined, and the fermentation process can cause the development of pathogenic bacteria.

When biological pollution affects the entire ecosystem that has fallen into the zone of infection. Moreover, it has the ability to expand to the scale of a real catastrophe.

Geological pollution

Man actively and confidently manages the earth. Its bowels are of interest to people as a treasury with minerals, and their development is carried out on a colossal scale. In parallel, humanity is constantly occupying new lands for construction, cutting down forests, draining water bodies, disrupting the ecosystem with all its actions.

As a result, the terrain begins to change and landslides, sinkholes, flooding are formed in places where it was difficult to expect. Such situations are almost impossible to predict, and in fact geological pollution can lead to the death of entire cities. They, for example, can completely go underground, which is no longer a rarity in the modern world.

Chemical pollution

This category refers to those that most quickly exert theirimpact on the ecosystem. Chemical elements emitted into the atmosphere by industrial enterprises, transport or entering the soil as a result of agricultural activities tend to accumulate in biological species and cause disturbances in their development.

The most dangerous chemical compounds are heavy metals and synthetic compounds. In small quantities, they do not have any noticeable effect on the body, but accumulating in it, they cause a number of serious diseases. Their effect is aggravated when transferred through the food chain. Plants draw harmful compounds from the soil and air, herbivores get them from food in an already larger dose, and predators at the end of this chain may already die from the maximum concentration of chemical compounds. Scientists are aware of cases when animals died en masse precisely because of the accumulated dangerous substances.

An ecosystem is a very fragile organism in which all parts of the whole are interconnected by invisible threads. Environmental pollution in one part of the world disrupts the natural balance in another. And first of all it affects the person. Therefore, it is worth seriously addressing the problem of anthropogenic pollution, or in the future our descendants will get an empty and inhospitable planet.