Today`s Precious: Water Pollution

Categories: Water Pollution

1. Introduction

Have you ever cherished the simple things in life? Simple things like turning on the tap and having clean water to drink or use? Water are very important to everyone and also plays a big part in most of the working industry. Unfortunately, some of the countries, especially some rural cities, they are struggling to have enough clean water to drink or use. According to this article, UN (United Nations) it stated that “about 297 000 children under five die every year due to diarrhoea diseases as there are unsafe water to drink, poor hygiene and sanitation.

” (WHO/UNICEF 2019). The major problem that lead to this issue is, water pollution. Hence, the purpose of this report is to discuss about the causes and solutions of water pollution through the two disciplines psychology and ethnics.

2.1 Causes of water pollution

There are six types of water pollution. Ground water, surface water, ocean water, point source, non-point source and transboundary. Out of the six water pollutions, the main focus is only on two water pollutions which are ocean water and non-point source pollution.

What causes ocean water pollution? The first reason is ocean acidification, everyone knows that burning fossil fuels will increase air pollution but in fact, it also affects the ocean too. When the ocean becomes too acidic it will affect the survival rate of the sea creatures like coral, mussels and many more to list. According to the Natural Resources Defence Council, USA, the survival of marine animals is at risk due to the decline in ocean’s carbonate levels.

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(NRDC,2019). The second reason is trash in the ocean. Out of all the rubbish collected from the ocean, plastic is the major issue as it is not biodegradable and can stay on this globe for more than 500 years. Plastic also pollute the beach, choke or entangling the sea creature. Rubbish are often being carried by rivers, rain, or wind. Discharged from chemical industry and oil spill is also the causes of ocean water pollution. The third reason is ocean noise. Some sea creatures depend on waves for food, mating and navigation. Often, there are man-made ocean pollution by altering the underwater acoustic landscape and this causes harming or killing to the sea creature. The last reason is, offshore drilling which result in increase of the greenhouse gases. Non-point source pollution comes from numbers of diffuse sources. Which means both natural and man-made pollutants can be carried away and then end up in river, coastal and many more to list.

2.2 Harmful for the sea creatures

If there are any pollutant or contamination in the water, the animal is usually the first victim that will be affected and this type of pollution is called ‘ocean water pollution’. The rubbish, plastic is a major issue for the sea creature, for example like the sea turtle. One of the foods that sea turtle eat for survival is jellyfish and it often mistakes plastic as jellyfish. Plastic is not biodegradable and it causes blockage in the sea turtle’s digestive system or the sea turtle might chock on the plastic which eventually causes death. This article from WWF stated “for 22% ingesting just one plastic item can be a death sentence. Sharp plastics can rupture internal organs and bags can cause intestinal blockages leaving turtles unable to feed which result in starvation.” (WWF) With that being said, the contamination or pollutant contribute to the increase of risk in extinction of the sea creatures and sea turtle is on the list.

2.3 Outbreak of disease

Outbreak of diseases can occur when there are, human-to-human contact, animals-to-human contact, infections and environment or other media. Additionally, water supply, sanitation facilities, food and climate are the few environmental factors that can cause the outbreak.(World health Organization, WHO) With that being said, lacking of proper disposal facilities, poor hygiene, the surrounding environment, lacking of safe water to drink and food, can cause unwanted diseases or conditions like diarrhoeal diseases and sometimes, it may cause death.

Climate change can increase the transmission of disease. For some examples flooding can affect the sewage and also lead to water contamination. “VOX”, an article stated “And one of the reasons researchers think Aedes(mosquito) may be reaching new places —and more people — lately is climate change. (Mosquitoes thrive in warm and moist environments.) Additionally, diseases such as Zika, dengue and chikingunya are all spread by the Aedes mosquito” (VOX, 2016)

3.1 Solution 1

Reusables items To prevent the contamination or pollution in the water, use reusables items to reduce the amount of plastic usage. The reusables items such as bringing water bottle to refill water, bring biodegradable utensils to replace the disposable ones, tumbler or container to takeaway beverages or food, tote bag to replace plastic bag and stainless, pasta or rice straw to replace plastic straw. This will help to reduce the amount of plastic usage.

3.2 Solution 2

Recycle recyclables items or reuse it Recycle things like glass, paper, cardboard, plastic and also metal at the recycle bin. For electronic items such as IT accessories, electronic waste, rechargeable and household battery, it can be disposed at the E waste recycling bin. Never know one day, recyclables items can turn into something useful. For example, recycled paper is made out of used rough or scrap paper.

4. Conclusion

People often take the simplest things in life for granted but unfortunately, there are still people out there, where they don’t get the opportunity to enjoy those simple things. There are people suffering due to the lack of safe water to drink and even worst, in some cases, they might suffer from those unwanted diseases and it might cause death. Being able to have clean water to drink or use is very important. Therefore, let’s cherish the little or even the simplest things in life. Hands-in-hands and make this world a better place for everyone to live in.

Cite this page

Today`s Precious: Water Pollution. (2021, Oct 31). Retrieved from http://envrexperts.com/free-essays/essay-about-todays-precious-water-pollution

Today`s Precious: Water Pollution
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