Environmental Pollution and Sustainable Solutions
8.4. POLLUTION AND CONTAMINATION. Alteration of a natural environment’s composition by introducing substances. Atmospheric pollution: Climate change: Increased greenhouse effect from emissions caused by oil combustion in industry and transportation. Ozone layer depletion: Caused by emissions of CFCs and nitrogen oxides. Acid rain: Precipitation of sulphuric and nitric acid from polluting gases. Water pollution: Salinization—Bioaccumulation. Eutrophication: Increased nutrients in aquatic ecosystems, leading to increased living beings that die when nutrients are depleted, polluting the water. Salinization: Salt entry into continental aquifers caused by irrigation with high salinity waters and groundwater extraction in coastal areas. Bioaccumulation: Increasing concentration of toxic substances in living beings. Soil pollution: Deforestation: Forest reduction or disappearance. Desertification: Removal of vegetation cover and soil loss. Loss of wetlands: Disappearance of inland waters due to various environmental impacts.
8.5. WASTE MANAGEMENT. Waste: Any substance from human activities that is no longer useful. Contamination: Serious environmental impacts and problems caused by waste. Types of waste and pollution: Residual energy: Heat (thermal pollution), noise (noise pollution), light (light pollution), radioactivity (radioactive contamination). Gaseous emissions: Dispersed gases and solids (air pollution). Liquid effluents: Liquids with gases and dissolved solids (water pollution). Solid waste: Solid substances from construction, mining, and agriculture (soil, atmospheric, and water pollution). Environmental impacts and problems: Large volume occupation: Waste of different types in landfills. Harmful health effects: Toxic, carcinogenic solid products and gases. Interference in natural cycles: Global warming, ozone layer depletion, eutrophication, acid rain. Waste management: Actions to reduce problems. Five R’s rule + Repurpose—Recycle. Control of toxic, dangerous, or radioactive waste. Reduce waste: Solid—reduction, reuse, and recycling. Liquid—water treatment by WWTP. Gaseous emissions—install filters and catalysts. Elimination: Landfills, incineration, storage under controlled conditions.
8.6. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. Solutions for a more sustainable world. Current economic growth and development are unsustainable. We must modify our behavior to correct environmental problems. Individual solutions: Environmental problems originate in our daily activities. 3R’s—Use environmentally friendly technologies. Help extend environmental sensitivity. Evaluate our behaviors and compensate for negative actions with positive actions. Institutional solutions: Governments can create laws to prevent and control environmental problems. Measurements: Legislative: Laws promote environmental respect and penalize impacts. Economic: Subsidizing sustainable activities and taxing environmentally negative activities. Executive: Developing projects for the management and conservation of nature. Necessary for global environmental conservation and protection. International institutions: UNEP, UNESCO, UN Commission for Sustainable Development, World Environment Commission (1987). Sustainable development: “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Global agreements: UN Environmental Conferences—Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972), Conference on Environment and Development or Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002). Agreements and conventions: Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (Vienna, 1985), Framework Convention on Climate Change (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), Convention to Combat Desertification (Paris, 1994).