Air pollution is the contamination of air by smoke and harmful gases. Mostly we know about air pollution caused by oxides of carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen. Some examples of air pollution include the following:
(1) Fumes of vehicles
(2) Burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil or gas
(3) Harmful off- gassing from things such as paint, plastic production
(4) Radiation spills or nuclear accidents
Air pollution can impact not only the world worsened environment but also human health and quality of living. Human can have asthma, allergies and other respiratory illnesses from air pollution.
Water Pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of bodies of water, such as the body of water of lakes, groundwater, and oceans. The pollution of water can be seen from the following:
(1) Raw sewage that runs into lake or streams
(2) Oil that runs into oceans
(3) Industrial waste spills contaminating groundwater
(4) Radiation spills or nuclear accidents
(5) Illegal dumping of substances, or items in bodies of water
(6) Biological contamination such as bacteria growth
Water pollution can harm life of human, animals, and plants.
Land Pollution
Land pollution is the degradation of the Earth’s surface that is caused by a misuse of resources and improper disposal of waste. Some examples of land pollution include the following:
(1) Litter on the sides of the road
(2) Illegal dumping in natural habitats
(3) Oil spills that happen inland
(4) The use of pesticides and other chemicals used in farming
(5) Damage and debris caused from unsustainable mining and logging practices
(6) Radiation spills or nuclear accidents
Land pollution has link with other pollution such as water pollution and visual pollution. Moreover, it is the damage to natural habitat of animals, deforestation and damage to natural resources.
4. Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is any loud sounds that are either harmful or annoying to humans and animals. Some examples include:
(1) Airplanes, helicopters and motor vehicles
(2) Construction or demolition (knocking down, destruction i.e. falling down trees with cutting machines) noise
(3) Human activities such as sporting events or concerts
Noise pollution mostly affects human in terms of stress and concentration levels as the pollution in disruptive. Moreover, it drives animals away and causes nervousness and decreases human ability to hear, to think or human’s productivity.
5. Thermal Pollution
Thermal pollution is the increase of temperature that is caused by human activities. By this pollution, water quality is degraded as there is a change in ambient water temperature. Thermal pollution is like these examples:
(1) Warmer lake water that is happened because the lake is located near industrial manufacturers or power plants (factories); As the factories use cool water as a coolant, so when the coolant is returned to the natural environment as a higher temperature, the change in temperature decreases oxygen supply. This can affect ecosystem composition. Some household activities in urban areas can cause thermal pollution as well.
(2) Increasing temperatures in areas with lots of concrete or vehicles, mainly in cities.
Even though this type of pollution cannot be seen and many people do not realize that, its impact has done with aquatic life which suffers or dies due to the increased temperature. Moreover, it can cause discomfort to communities that face higher temperatures and can affect life of plants in and around the area.
6. Visual Pollution
Visual pollution is anything that when you see you think they are unattractive or anything that damage your sight (sight = visual) (pollution to your eyes). Mostly it happens with landscapes. This pollution in very subjective as different people do not have the same idea of which is attractive and which is not. This causes the fact that there are many areas that are visually polluted, while people still ignore. Moreover, people may think that that visual pollution does not harm their lives. Some examples of visual pollution are:
(1) Skyscrapers might block the view of mountain
(2) Graffiti or carving on trees, rocks or other natural landscapes
(3) Billboards, litter, abandoned homes and junkyards, and unfinished buildings could also be considered a visual pollution
Visual pollution is annoying and decrease aesthetic level. Some say it is depressing.
7. Light Pollution
Light pollution is the brightening of the night sky inhibiting the visibility of stars and planets by the use of improper lighting of communities or even by heavy use of light in cities. Some examples include:
(1) Street lamps that shine light in all directions, instead of with a hood to point light downward toward the street
(2) Unnecessary lights, especially around the home.
(3) Heavy light in cities
Light pollution affects human health such as our sleep cycle. Moreover, as this pollution is about an issue of improper use of light, it links with unsustainable use of energy as well.
Environmental change, such as nowadays issue of global warming and climate change, is the main factor in causing other phenomena, for example energy and natural resources concern and disasters. These accordingly lead to risk, uncertainty of security of human livelihood, and conflicts, and of course will affect the well- being of the world population in many terms (i.e. human health, economic).
2. Energy and Natural Resources Crisis
Energy and natural resources crisis is one of the global concerns as the crisis affect directly the world humanity. Inadequate energy and natural resources can threaten the well- being of human. The issue of energy and natural resources crisis is also about an unfair allocation of and accessibility to resources for different parts of the world, which leads to conflicts of humanity.
Since the start of the new millennium, the world has witnessed around 2,500 disasters. Over two billion people have been affected and millions have lost their lives. Disasters can cause:
- Destruction of infrastructure
- Population displacement
- Poverty
- Limited food and water availability
- Pressures on natural resources
- Environmental degradation
Nearly half of the world’s natural disasters occur in the Asia and Pacific region. In 2008 alone, the region accounted for more than half of the 220 major disasters that took place, which affected more than 55 million people and resulted in 7,000 deaths and US$ 15 billion in damages.