Painful Pollution

Pollution comes in many forms: water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution, light pollution; it’s horrible. Pollution is mainly caused by humans, but some people have been trying to reduce it. If you’ve ever heard of the ozone layer, it’s what protects us from the sun, but since human-made chemicals have gotten out, it’s been deteriorating little by little.

Pollution also affects animals; it ruins their homes, and even deforestation is added into pollution. Since trees produce oxygen it helps us breathe and helps reduce the amount of sun coming onto the planet. If too many trees were cut down, then it would contribute a lot to the pollution of the ozone layer. Animals that are in forests live in trees, so getting rid of them also throws off the order a bit. For example, if squirrels were all getting killed, then the things that eat squirrels might get more hungry, and the things squirrels eat may overpopulate. Water pollution also affects most animals. Animals that may drink from a lake or river would die and so would the organisms that swim in the water could die. 

One way humans can be affected by pollution has to do with the pollution in the air. The air, when polluted, can be very dangerous to breathe, and may make you sick. It also does have a relationship with the ozone layer, since all the bad things in the air will be deteriorating the water slowly. Water pollution also affects humans horribly. Some people who live on reservations also have it bad, because their water may be infected by oil or different chemicals, making it dangerous to ingest, and overall, it literally destroys the lakes, rivers, and oceans that we love.

Light pollution is a horrible one, which, you guessed it, affects the ozone layer as well. But one of the other things it does is affect the sky. At night sometimes we look up and we see some stars and sure they might be pretty but without light pollution the stars would be very beautiful. Light pollution breaks down something called Nitrate Radical which helps clean the atmosphere so without this then we can’t have a cleaner sky overall. Cities that let out a lot of light contribute so much to light pollution so cutting back on as many bright lights can do a lot.

Noise pollution isn’t always as talked about, but it’s equally dangerous as other pollution types. It affects both humans and all organisms, which is crazy, and it doesn’t matter if it’s water or land it’ll still affect us. Loud noises coming from things like loud cars, construction, or concerts contribute to noise pollution. The loud noises can cause bad things to happen, like increasing your risk of having high blood pressure or hearing loss. And in the water, ships and boats noises affect the larger organisms in the ocean. Many underwater creatures use sound to detect predators, prey, and danger. Loud noises in the ocean can disrupt their cycle and routine. Over 85 decibels of sound harms the human ear. 

Pollution has been here for years and years from oil to just a piece of trash. Playing a part in pollution is horrible so try to pick up whenever you see trash on the ground, even the smallest bit can help.

Information from this article was found at: www.education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/noise-pollution