LAND AND LIGHT POLLUTION

LAND AND LIGHT POLLUTION

What is land pollution?

• Land pollution is the deterioration (destruction) of the earth’s land surfaces, often directly or indirectly as a result of man’s activities and their misuse of land resources.

• It occurs when waste is not disposed of properly. It can also happen when humans throw chemicals onto the soil in the form of pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizers during agricultural practices. The exploitation of minerals (mining activities) has also contributed to the destruction of the earth’s surface.

• Since the industrial revolution, natural habitats have been destroyed, and environments have been polluted causing diseases in both humans and many other species of animals.

• It is important to understand that land pollution is not just littering, although it is a part of the issue. Land pollution is a rather bigger issue. It is more of an industrial issue, involving big oil refineries, industries that manufacture chemicals, herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers used in farming. It also involves illegal dumping of waste in landfills and so on.

• Human actions have also caused many large areas of land to lose or reduce their capacity to support life forms and ecosystems. This is known as land degradation. Note that land degradation can result from many factors, and land pollution is only one of them.

Types of land pollution

• In the lesson, we shall see more about land pollution, the sources of land pollution, its consequences, and a few things we can do to prevent further pollution and protect our environment.

• There are different types of land pollution. Many publications group them differently. Let us see these four main types:

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Solid Waste

• These include all the various kinds of rubbish we make at home, school, hospitals, markets, and workplaces. Things like paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans, food, and even used cars and broken electronic goods, broken furniture, and hospital waste are all examples of solid waste. Some of these are biodegradable (meaning they can rot or decay into organic matter). Examples include food droppings, paper products as well as vegetation (like grass and twigs). Others are not biodegradable, and they include plastics, metals and aluminum cans, broken computers, and car parts.

• Because these do not readily decay, they pile up in landfills (a place where all the city’s rubbish is sent), where they stay for thousands of years. These bring great harm to the land and people around it.

Pesticides and Fertilizers

• Many farming activities engage in the application of fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides for higher crop yield. That is good because we get more food, but can you think of what happens to the chemicals that end up on the crops and soils? Sometimes, insects and small animals are killed, and bigger animals that eat tiny animals (as in food chains) are in turn harmed. Finally, the chemicals may be washed down after rains and over time, they end up in the water table below.

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Chemicals

• Chemical and nuclear power plants produce waste materials that have to be stored somewhere. Fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, pharmaceutical manufacturers also produce lots of solid and liquid waste. In many cases, they are stored in an environmentally safe way, but some find their way into landfills and other less safe storage facilities. Sometimes they also find their way into leaking pipes and gutters. They end up polluting soils and making crops harmful to our health.

Deforestation

• Humans depend on trees for life and many other things. Trees absorb carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) from the air and enrich the air with Oxygen, which is needed for life. Trees provide wood for humans and habitat to many land animals, insects, and birds. Trees also help replenish soils and help retain nutrients being washed away. Unfortunately, we have cut down millions of acres of trees for wood, construction, farming, and mining purposes and never planted new trees back. That is a type of land pollution too.

Sources of land pollution

• Agricultural sources: These include waste matter produced by crops, animal manure, and farm residues. It also includes chemical leftovers from all pesticides, fertilizers, and insecticides used for agricultural activities.

• Ashes: The residual matter that remains after solid fuels are burned. When waste is burned in incinerators, two types of ashes are produced. Bottom ash is the debris from burnt metal and glass waste. Bottom ash is not bio-degradable. The second type of ash is called fly ash. That is the ash that is trapped by filters in the chimney of the incinerators. It is known to be very toxic (poisonous). Every four trucks of waste burnt produce about one truck of ashes that end up in the landfill too. Ashes easily leak into the soil and water tables, causing land and water pollution.

• Industrial sources: These include paints, chemicals, metals and aluminum, plastics, and so on that are produces in the process of manufacturing goods.

• Sewage Treatment: This is waste left over after sewage has been treated, biomass sludge, and settled solids. Some of these are sent directly to landfills whiles other treatment plants burn them to generate electricity. Both end up polluting the environment.

• Garbage or waste: These include household or municipal waste such as glass, metal, cloth, plastic, wood, paper, and so on. Some of these can decay, and others cannot. They are usually collected and sent to landfills where the pollution action begins.

• Construction sources: These include waste like debris, wood, metals, and plastics that are produced from construction activities.

• Deforestation: This is when trees are cut down for economic purposes, mining, farming, and construction. In forest areas, trees absorb and reflect about 20% of the intense heat from the sun, protecting and preserving its surface soils. Cutting down trees means that the land is exposed to direct sunlight and rain, resulting in soil erosions, desertification, and land degradation.

• Chemical And Nuclear Plants: These include chemical waste from chemical industries that are disposed of in landfills.

• Oil Refineries: When crude oil is refined into usable petrol, gas, or diesel, some by-products end up as waste.

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Effects of land pollution

• ecosystems are disturbing to think that the benefits of a healthy ecosystem are threatened by land and soil pollution. Hazardous chemicals in the soil can potentially wipe out living organisms in the soil. These organisms help to break down organic matter in the soil and help aerate the soil. A polluted land or soil will therefore not be able to support the plants and animals that depend on it in keeping food chains intact.

• Water sources Anytime it rains, water washes the surfaces of these polluted lands and runs off to nearby water sources. All the dangerous chemicals and harmful litter such as plastics, glass, and metal pieces are washed into water bodies. These make the waters unsafe for consumption and also harmful to animals that live in the water. In addition to this. Chemicals in the soil are leached further down into the water table, thereby polluting them in the process.

• Vegetation plays a vital role in climate control, food, water purification, shelter, and so on. The activity of mining, industry, landfills, and the like are destructive to vegetation and threaten the benefits that vegetation provides.

• Health: There are many pollutants in soils that can be very harmful when exposed to humans over long periods. For example, pollutants in soils such as Arsenic found in pesticides, mining of gold, lead, and copper are toxic when exposed to humans. Prolonged exposures to humans may cause arsenic poisoning. They can also cause skin, heart, liver, some kinds of cancers, and neurological damage.

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• EnvironmentsLandfills, littered communities, and places with dirty landscapes are generally not attractive to tourists and visitors. This means such communities usually miss out on the value and benefits of tourism and investment. In some cities, there are bad smells, lots of rats, mice, and insects that spread diseases. These animals thrive in dirty places. Governments spend a lot of money cleaning up and managing trash and the polluted landscape. That money could have been used for other things such as healthcare and education. Many landfills are always burning, and they cause further air pollution.

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How to prevent land pollution

• Like many other challenges, the best way to solve problems is to understand them. That means learning about it (like what you are doing now) is the greatest step forward.

• As we now know, the bigger issues of land and soil pollution are caused by mining and industrial operations. As young individuals, it can be hard to think that you can do anything to improve the situation, but you can. Get involved with the discussion and be a part of the solution. Get your parents, friends, and neighbors to know more about the issue. If you can vote, be sure that your leaders are thinking about it too and vote for the right people.

• People should be educated and made aware of the harmful effects of littering. Discuss with friends and family and talk about it.

• Reuse any items that you can. Items like clothing, bottles, wrapping paper, and shopping bags can be used over and over again, rather than buying new things.

• Reduce Waste, Reuse things, and Recycle things. This is true even for governments. They can also use the three ‘R’ rule to minimize the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. After the three ‘R’s, remember to turn the rest of the garbage into compost.

• Personal litter should be disposed of properly. We can separate household waste at home for recycling. More than half of our household waste could be recycled or re-used but once it is mixed up, it becomes more difficult to separate different components for recycling. This is also true for the waste we make at school or hospitals.

• Buy biodegradable products.

• Store all liquid chemicals and waste in spill-proof containers.

• Eat organic foods that are grown without pesticides. Look out for fertilizer or pesticide-free products when you go to the market.

• Do not use pesticides if you can.

• Use a drip tray to collect engine oil.

• Buy products that have little packaging.

• Don’t dump motor oil on the ground.

• Governments can also ensure that there are incentives for people to recycle and re-use things.

What light pollution?

• Light pollution is the excessive and prolonged use of artificial lights, in a way that results in the brightening of night skies, disrupting natural cycles and activities of wildlife, health problems in humans, as well as preventing humans from observing stars and other planets.

• In other definitions, it does not only have to do with the sky but anywhere that artificial lights are used, where they are not intended to. Other terms often used for light pollution are ‘photo pollution’ and ‘luminous pollution’.

• Note that this is not only a city center problem. There is also light pollution when you use too much light in your compound which affects the comfort and health of your neighbors. This could be your outdoor light‘s intrusion into other people’s bedrooms. This can be called a nuisance. Too much light indoors also is classified as indoor light pollution if it is wasteful and it has an effect on the health of people living in that room.

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What are the main sources of light pollution?

• In a nutshell, all artificial lights that emit above the horizontal are likely to cause light pollution.

• This is because much of it ends up straight above. In recent times, efficient design in lighting equipment makes it possible to direct light into specific places, thereby minimizing light spillovers.

• The light that is directed downwards to minimize light pollution is called shielded lights (or full cut-off).

Electronic Advertising Boards and Commercial Centers

• Many of the large electronic signboards in the cities and on highways are lit up by powerful lights that focus on the boards from below. Lights end up reflected upwards off the boards. Restaurants, discos, pubs, games, and shops in the cities also use a lot of light to attract customers. Many of the lights they use are not directed to any particular place, making its dispersion more than intended.

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Night Sports grounds

• Floodlights that light stadiums and other places of sports often contribute to light pollution as the powerful lights end up upwards. These include the large light posts on the car parks.

Streetlights and car lights

• In some cities, hundreds of miles of powerful streetlights stay on all night. This, together with the vehicles that use the roads all contribute a lot to the light being directed above and to other unintended places. It has been estimated that about 35% to 50% of all light pollution is produced by roadway lighting

• City Parks, Airports, public places:

  Many of these areas use many old-fashioned lights that are not shielded and have a lot of them emitting light upwards.

• Residential Areas:

  Light pollution in these areas tends to be of the glare and spillover type. Garden and landscape lights intended to add aesthetics to the landscape and architecture often end up as a nuisance at night, because they tend to irritate people as they walk or drive in these areas.

What are the types of light pollution?

• Light pollution comes in many forms. The most common include the following:

• Skyglow:

  This is the bright orange-pink glow that hangs over cities and towns in the night. Skyglow could be caused by natural factors, but also often caused by inefficient and artificial lights shinning needlessly into the sky, and further scattered by airborne dust particles, gas, and water droplets. Skyglow is better seen during poor weather conditions where more particles are present in the atmosphere. Astronomers are having increasing problems with sky glow as it interferes with the viewing of celestial (outer space) objects. For example, at the Mars Hill Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, sky brightness is reported to have increased by 0.5 magnitudes from 1976 to 1988

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• Glare:

  This is the effect produced when the eyes are exposed to bright light. If a bright flashlight is directed at your face in a dark place, you notice that it almost blinds you and suddenly you cannot see other objects or shadows around you. This is particularly dangerous when driving because bright lights from cars coming towards you reduce your vision and put pedestrians and other road users at risk. The most common causes of glare include bright streetlights and car lights.

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Light trespass (Spillover)

• This occurs when the light goes over its intended range. Think of your neighbor’s security light shining through your bedroom windows and lighting up your room all night. Light spillover is a very common subject of complaint by many residential dwellers and is a problem that can be easily fixed with the right lighting equipment. Main sources of light trespass include dusk-to-dawn lights, sports field lighting, and commercial lighting.

How can light pollution be reduced or prevented?

• Unlike other pollution matters, light pollution has not been considered a major issue until recently. The good news is that the solutions that experts suggest are not as complex and difficult as those of air and water pollution. Light pollution can be significantly reduced by some engineering and structural design policies and considerations. Besides that, education will be needed to get the message across and get people more informed about the issue and take the step of becoming part of the solution.

• Here are a few things governments and engineers can do:

• Engineers must invest and use new lighting technology that uses the full cut-off concept. This way, lights escaping upwards from large commercial places, stadiums, theaters, and public places will be reduced. For example, about 30% of road light fittings in the UK have reached their lifespan and need changing. This is a good time to engage new technology to ensure that the replaced fittings will not cause too much light pollution (Source: Artificial Light in the Environment Report, UK : ISBN: 9780108508547)

• Government policies on the use of lights must be stepped in a way that forces consumers to buy more energy-reduced light (and also not too many bright lights). These policies must be enforced.

• Research shows that too many lights do not necessarily improve visibility. This means that smart choices can be made to improve visibility at the night without splashing too much light into the sky.

• Individuals must also begin to install motion sensor lights and bulbs in their homes so that they are not kept on all night. Garden and landscape lights must be used effectively and should not be too bright to bother others.

• It is important that education on light pollution and its consequences is stepped up and taught in all schools, just as water, land, and air pollution.

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