Essay on Causes of Pollution

The term Pollution refers to the introduction of unwanted polluting substances into the environment. These polluting substances, commonly referred to as pollutants are generated mainly due to human activities like industrialization, use of fossil fuels, radioactive leakage etc. Pollutants could be solid, liquid or gaseous forms, depending on the activities through which they are produced. These pollutants are mostly chemical and toxic in nature and get mixed with the environment, degrading its overall quality.

Short and Long Essay on Causes of Pollution in English

We have provided below Short and Long Essay on Causes of Pollution in English for your information and knowledge. The essays have been written in simple yet effective English language so that you can easily memorize them and present them when needed. After going through these essays, you will know the causes of pollution; how industries and vehicles cause pollution; how littering causes pollution etc. You will also know about the conventional and natural causes of pollution. The essays will be extremely helpful in your school/college assignments and speech giving, essay writing or debate competitions.

Causes of Pollution Essay 1 (200 Words)

There are several human activities that lead to the pollution of the environment. Widespread development and population growth throughout the world has resulted in increased human activities like industrialization, urbanization, deforestation among others.

Each of stated activities affects the environment in its own way. For example, industrialization causes the contamination of air and water bodies, as a lot of toxic byproducts are produced both in gaseous as well as liquid forms, by the production industries.  In the absence of proper management, these pollutants are left into the environment, resulting in pollution of air and water bodies.

Similarly, transport vehicles use fossil fuel, which on burning produces harmful gases like CO (Carbon Monoxide), CO2 (Carbon dioxide) etc. These gases again mix with the atmospheric air, causing air pollution.

Human activities like deforestation didn’t directly contribute to the pollution; nevertheless it reduces the earth’s capacity to tackle with pollution. Forests act as natural buffer zones and air filters. They absorb noise pollution and also exchange CO2 with much needed O2 (Oxygen). When more forests are cut down it results in increased atmospheric concentration of these toxic gases, which has a adverse effect on human health as well as on the health of the flora and fauna.

Causes of Pollution Essay 2 (300 Words)

Introduction

When an unwanted substance enters the otherwise natural and pure environment, this phenomenon is termed as pollution. There are many factors that cause pollution and almost all of them are human induced. The natural pollutants causing potential harm to the environment are negligible.

Causes of Pollution

Below we have discussed some of the main factors causing pollution of the environment. All of the factors involve human activities and man’s need to expand, explore and grow.

1) Industrialization

Man’s quest for economical growth has led to cluster of industries all over the globe. These manufacturing industries emit toxic fumes as byproduct, which are emitted into the environment.

Industrial emission may contain toxic gases, chemicals and solids as well. Due to lack of effective policies, these substances are freely emitted into the environment, by the industries, consequently causing environmental pollution.

2) Use of Fossil Fuel

Transportation vehicles use fossil fuels as their main fuel. Burning of fossil fuels produces gases like Carbon dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) as byproduct. More number of vehicles plying on road means more quantity of these toxic gases in the atmosphere.

Also the industries producing fossil fuels generate toxic gaseous compound which are very harmful to the environment.

3) Littering

Littering is another most common cause for the environmental pollution. Littering happens when common household waste or urban waste, to be more specific, reaches our natural environment, due to the lack of effective waste management methods.

The urban waste consists of toxic compounds like polythene, glass, lead, garbage etc. This trash reaches our soil and water bodies, resulting in their pollution.

4) Agricultural Activities

Agricultural activities like use of chemical fertilizers contaminate the soil resulting in its pollution. Modern fertilizers use chemicals those may temporary boost up crop yield yet in the long run are harmful to the environment.

These chemicals get mixed with the soil and later get washed away as runoff into our water bodies or ground water resources.

Conclusion

Pollution is a vast subject involving several triggering factors and same as many implications. There is a need to look into each and every factor causing pollution and to take necessary preventive measures.

Causes of Pollution Essay 3 (400 Words)

Introduction

The causes of pollution are not only limited to the conventional pollutants like Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) emitted from burning of fossil fuels by transportation vehicles, rather a number of other factors are responsible for causing environmental pollution.

What are the Reasons of Increasing Pollution

Below we have discussed some of the unconventional reasons/causes of pollution.

1) Heavy Machinery and Equipments

I this ever expanding world, new constructions are being build every minute; transportation vehicles and huge jet liners are transporting men and machinery from one place to other within a matter of few hours. These heavy machineries used for the construction work and aircrafts are the main source of noise pollution. Though, noise pollution isn’t considered as serious as air and water pollution, nevertheless it has its own impact on human health and the environment as well.

2) Excessive Use of Light

Excess use of unwanted light in areas of urban settlements causes light pollution. Lights glow up areas where it is not required, often also interfering with each other. Moreover, there are too many lights pointing at a particular place, which requires less light. The presence of excess light over a particular area is termed as light pollution. Though, light is one of the most neglected causes of pollution, yet it has many degrading effects on the environment and its inhabitants.

3) Urban Runoff

Urban runoff is one of the main causes of pollution in and around human settlements. Urban runoff consists of a variety of solid and liquid pollutants, often toxic in nature. It also contains harmful chemicals from agricultural fields using chemical fertilizers. Urban runoff is the main cause of air, water and soil pollution, in and around the urban settlement.

4) Excessive Use of Plastic

Excess use of plastic as bags and in the form of other consumable materials is also one of the main causes of environmental pollution. Plastic is non biodegradable and as it is stays in the environment for centuries to come. Thin plastic bags get broken into small pieces and reaches the soil and water bodies, resulting in their pollution.

Conclusion

Pollution is caused by several human induced activities. There is a need to put an effective policy in place to curb the harmful effect of pollution on the environment. This could only be achieved by sheer will and determination of the government agencies and the people alike.

Causes of Pollution Essay 4 (500 Words)

Introduction

As we all know that pollution refers to the contamination of our natural environment by an contaminant or pollutant, mainly generated due to human activity. There are some conventional causes of pollution like the use of fossil fuels by vehicles and also non conventional causes like volcanoes, forest fires etc.

Types of Causes of Pollution

The causes of pollution can be classified into two categories – human induced pollution and natural pollution. Below we will briefly discuss the two types of causes of pollution.

Human Induced Pollution

1) Vehicle Exhaust Fumes

Fumes emitted by the exhaust of vehicles are the main cause of air pollution in an urban area. Vehicles use petrol or diesel, which upon combustion produces Carbon Monoxide (CO). CO is toxic in nature and causes irreparable damage to the environment and human health as well.

2) Power Plants

Apart from the vehicles using fossil fuels, power plants also use great quantities of fossil fuels, resulting in environmental damage. During the whole process of fossil fuel burning in a power plant, Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) is produced, which gets mixed with water vapor present in the atmosphere and causes a phenomenon called Acid Rain. Acid Rain is very damaging to the flora and fauna of the environment.

3) Industrial Exhaust

Industrial Exhaust is one of the main causes of pollution of the environment. Industries emit harmful gases as byproducts into the environment. Some of them even release liquid chemical pollutants and other hazardous solid compounds, into the nearby water bodies. This causes huge damage to the natural water resource and contaminates it, also threatening the life of flora and fauna and aquatic plants and animals.

4) Construction Activities

Incessant construction activities are one of the main causes of air pollution in an urban area. Activities like grinding, foundation digging, sump construction, transportation results in very small particles of dust being mixed with air. These particle are called Particulate Matter (PM) and just remain suspended in the air, for hours, sometimes even for days. Air with more than prescribed quantity of Particulate Matter is hazardous to breathe and may cause serious respiratory ailments.

Natural Causes of Pollution

There are also some natural causes of pollution, which cause huge damage to the environment. Though, they are not consistent in appearance, yet, they cause considerable damage to the environment.

Some of the natural causes of the environmental pollution are volcanoes, forest fires, dust storms. During the volcanic eruption and forest fires large quantities of toxic gases are released causing damage to the environment.

Conclusion

There is a need to immediately limit the effects of pollution as it is destroying the environment with every passing minute. Not only the pollution is contaminating our natural resources it also threatens the very existence of life on earth.

It is a collective responsibility of everyone to take necessary action towards preventing any further damage to the environment. This could be achieved by decreasing waste and introducing new and effective waste disposal and management techniques.