ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE REVIEWER MIDTERMS

 While plants and animals need these

WATER POLLUTION
nutrients to grow, they have become
 Water pollution occurs when harmful a major pollutant due to farm waste and
substances contaminate a body of water, fertilizer runoff.
degrading water quality and rendering it 3. OCEAN WATER
toxic to humans or the environment.
 The Water (Hydrologic) Cycle  8% of ocean pollution (also called
marine pollution) originates on land—
whether along the coast or far inland.
 Contaminants such as chemicals,
nutrients, and heavy metals are carried
from farms, factories, and cities by
streams and rivers into our bays and
estuaries; from there they travel out to
sea.
 Our seas are also sometimes spoiled by
oil spills and leaks—big and small—and
are consistently soaking up carbon
pollution from the air. The ocean
absorbs as much as a quarter of man-
made carbon emissions.

CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION 4. POINT SOURCE

 Toxic substances from farms, towns, and  contamination from a single source
factories readily dissolve into and mix with  Examples include wastewater (also
H2O, causing water pollution. called effluent) discharged legally or
 Having identified as the “universal solvent”, illegally by a manufacturer, oil refinery,
water is able to dissolve more substances or wastewater treatment facility, as well
than any other liquid on earth. as contamination from leaking septic
systems, chemical and oil spills, and
CATERGORIES OF WATER POLLUTION illegal dumping.
 the EPA regulates point source pollution
by establishing limits on what can be
discharged by a facility directly into a
body of water. While point source
pollution originates from a specific place,
it can affect miles of waterways and
ocean.
5. NONPOINT SOURCE
 Nonpoint source pollution is
contamination derived from diffuse
sources. These may include agricultural
When rain falls and seeps deep into the earth, or stormwater runoff or debris blown into
filling the cracks, crevices, and porous spaces waterways from land.
of an aquifer (basically an underground  Nonpoint source pollution is the leading
storehouse of water), it becomes groundwater cause of water pollution in U.S. waters,
—one of our least visible but most important but it’s difficult to regulate, since there’s
natural resources. no single, identifiable culprit.

1. GROUNDWATER 6. TRANSBOUNDARY

 gets polluted when contaminants—from  Transboundary pollution is the result of

pesticides and fertilizers to waste contaminated water from one country
leached from landfills and septic spilling into the waters of another
systems—make their way into an  Contamination can result from a disaster
aquifer, rendering it unsafe for human —like an oil spill—or the slow, downriver
use. creep of industrial, agricultural, or
municipal discharge.
2. SURFACE WATER
 (70 % of earth – oceans, lakes, rivers,
etc.)
 Nutrient pollution, which includes MOST COMMON TYPES OF WATER
nitrates and phosphates, is the leading CONTAMINATION
type of contamination in these
freshwater sources.
 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE REVIEWER MIDTERMS
1. AGRICULTURE  Reduced life span for organisms
 Leading cause of water degradation and less ability to reproduce.
around the world
WATER POLLUTION IN THE PHILIPPINES
 Run off from pesticides, fertilizers,
animal wastes and livestock  Water pollution is a major problem in the
operations. Philippines.
 Nutrient pollution  According to Water Environment
Partnership in Asia (WEPA), 32 percent of
2. SEWAGE AND WASTEWATER the Philippines’ land mass — approximately
 It comes from our sinks, showers, and 96,000 square kilometers — is used for
toilets and from commercial, industrial, agriculture.
and agricultural activities.  Increased population, urbanization,
 The term also includes stormwater agriculture and industrialization have all
runoff, which occurs when rainfall reduced the quality of water in the
carries road salts, oil, grease, Philippines.
chemicals, and debris from
impermeable surfaces into our Greenpeace reports the water pollution in
waterways the Philippines is mostly wastewater from
 More than 80 percent of the world’s the following sources:
wastewater flows back into the
environment without being treated or 1. Industrial: The metal varies according to
reused. industry — lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium
 In the United States, wastewater and cyanide.
treatment facilities process about 34 2. Agricultural: Organic — decayed plants,
billion gallons of wastewater per day. dead animals, livestock manure, soil runoff; and
 But according to EPA estimates, our non-organic — pesticides and fertilizers.
nation’s aging and easily 3. Domestic sewage: Contains pathogens that
overwhelmed sewage treatment threaten human health and life.
systems also release more than 850 4. Other sources: Oil, mine or chemical spills
billion gallons of untreated wastewater and illegal dumping in or near water.
each year.
One of the most alarming things
3. OIL POLLUTION Greenpeace reports is that out of the
 Oil and gasoline drips from cars and Philippines’ 421 rivers, as many as 50 are
trucks everyday considered dead and unable to support any
 Estimated half of 1 million tons of oil but the most robust life.
from factories, farms and cities
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREVENT WATER
 10 percent from tanker spills
POLLUTION?
 Naturally released oil from ocean
seeps 1. Practice 3R’s when you can
2. Proper disposal of chemical cleaners,
4. RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES oils, and non-biodegradable items.
 any pollution that emits radiation 3. Consider landscaping
beyond what is naturally released by 4. Proper disposal of human and animal
the environment wastes.
 Radioactive waste can persist in the 5. With your voice
environment for thousands of years, 6. One of the most effective ways to stand
making disposal a major challenge. up for our waters is to speak out in
support of the Clean Water Rule

EFFECTS OF WATER POLLUTION

1. HUMAN HEALTH
 Water pollution kills. 1.8 million
deaths in 2015 – The Lancet
 Major cause of illnesses caused
by waterborne pathogens
 it caused 1.8 million deaths in
2015

2. ENVIRONMENT LAND POLLUTION

 System imbalance in the
complex web of living organisms
 Eutrophication
 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE REVIEWER MIDTERMS
 is the destruction and contamination of the  Depending on the soil and whether the
land through the direct and indirect actions chemicals were improperly disposed of on
of humans. the land, the chemicals could end up in the
 The pollution results in changes to the land, ground water. The process is known as
such as soil erosion. Some of the changes leaching. It can occur on farms, industrial
are irreversible, while others are not. sites, and landfills.
2. WATER NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT
CAUSES OF LAND POLLUTION
 Chemicals, such as nitrogen, are used
1. DEFORESTATION AND SOIL EROSION frequently on farms. Only a small portion of
 When forests are cleared for development the nutrients end up benefitting the crops.
and to meet the demand for wood supply,  The remainder usually ends up in water that
the soil is loosened in the process. is populated by fish, algae, and other
 Without the protection of the trees, the land lifeforms. The nutrient-heavy water saps up
becomes barren over time and starts to most of the oxygen in the water, which
erode. leaves little for fish and other life. When this
happens, the water is unable to support
2. AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS most lifeforms.
 Part of the farming process often involves  Eutrophication - excessive richness of
the use of harmful pesticides and nutrients in a lake or other body of water,
insecticides to protect crops. However, the frequently due to runoff from the land, which
chemicals can cause the land to become causes a dense growth of plant life and
barren. death of animal life from lack of oxygen.
 The once-fertile soil is then more
susceptible to environmental elements, 3. LOSS OF TOPSOIL
such as the wind.  Soil becomes more susceptible to
harmful fungus species and begins to
3. INDUSTRIALIZATION erode.
 As chemical fertilizers and pesticides are
 The Industrial Revolution may have resulted used to maintain crops, the topsoil’s
in significant positive changes to the composition becomes altered. The soil
economy and society, but it also led to becomes more susceptible to harmful
significant pollution of the land. fungus species and begins to erode
 Through unsafe disposal practices for
chemicals used in manufacturing, poor 4. SHIFTING HABITAT
regulation, and the overwhelming number of  Animals are forced to move to find
industries and factories that are polluting the shelter and food.
land daily, industrialization has become one  Extinction of some species.
of the main contributors to the pollution  As deforestation and soil erosion
problem. progress, animals are forced to move to
find shelter and food. For some animals,
4. MINING the change is too traumatic, and this has
led to some dying. As a result, some
 The mining process can lead to the creation
species are at a greater risk of extinction.
of large open spaces beneath the surface of
the earth.
5. INCREASED RISK OF WILDFIRES
 This can result in the land caving in, which  Fires can grow quickly because of the
compromises the integrity of the land. dry conditions and widening area of
polluted land
5. LANDFILLS  The dry conditions created by pollutants
 The garbage found at landfills is filled with in the soil help to create the perfect
toxins that eventually seep into the earth. environment for wildfires. The fires can
grow quickly because of the dry
 During rains, the toxins are washed into conditions and widening area of polluted
other areas and the pollution is spread. As land.
the population grows, the amount of
garbage filling landfills also grows. 6. ON HUMANS
 Birth defects
6. HUMAN SEWAGE
 Development of breathing disorders
 Untreated human waste can produce toxic  Skin diseases
gases that can seep into the ground. As with  Cancer
air pollution, the soil quality is negatively  Affect child’s cognitive development.
impacted, and land nearby can be
contaminated.
SOLUTION TO LAND POLLUTION
EFFECTS OF LAND POLLUTION
1. Proper waste disposal
1. GROUND WATER POISONING 2. 3R’s
 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE REVIEWER MIDTERMS
3. Organic Gardening
4. Patronizing local organic products
5. Reducing the use of non-biodegradable
products

AIR POLLUTION