Pollution

                Pollution is a major crisis of the 21^st century and the future. It has grown into a global crunch that has proven to be a menace for the environment and the world. It is actually an undeniable fact that humans led themselves in such disastrous circumstances. The pollutants such as CFCs, smoke from vehicles and chimneys of power stations and plastic based synthetic products easily top the list of most disastrous elements in the degradation of the environment.

               CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) are of the most problematic sources of pollution. They are used in Aerosols, Spray cans, Refrigerants and cooling systems. On their own they are not harmful, but when released in the air, they are catastrophic to the survival of human beings. CFCs find their way up to the ozone layer and get suspended in it. When sunlight falls upon it, CFCs chemically decompose and react with the ozone that leads to the de-saturation of ozone layer. Its decomposition is a very fast process and it ‘eats away’ the ozone layer. The thinning of ozone leads to the passage of harmful ultraviolent waves from sun to the surface of the earth that can lead to various skin based diseases. Since its advent, CFCs have enormously damaged the ozone layer. In 1985, a giant hole covering almost the entire region of Antarctic, in the ozone layer was discovered. This led to widespread suspicions and claims regarding reliability of CFCs and its consequences on the future on mankind.

               The smoke that is released from the vehicles or the chimneys of power stations or factories is doing its part in destroying the environment. Smoke released from vehicles majorly contains Carbon Monoxide gas which is highly poisonous. Also it contains some of the lead based elements that are added in the petrol i.e. TEL (tetra-ethyl-lead) which when inhaled cause brain damage, most particularly affecting the children. Smoke on itself causes breathing difficulties and lung cancer when inhaled in excessive quantities. Smoke from chimneys of power stations and factories is the consequence of burning of coal as fuel. When this smoke travels in the air, it creates a very unique type of nuisance. The particular smoke contains major Sulphur contents that accumulate themselves in the rain clouds leading to Acid rain. Acid rain ruins sculpture art, eats away marble and raises the acidity of rivers and lakes leading to mass destruction of marine life. Sulphur in the air also causes photochemical smog, a particular type of fog that causes irritation in eyes.

              A creation equally destructive and a conception of the evil mind of human itself is the Polythene and other plastic based products. Plastics and its sub related products are non-bio-degradable products i.e. they cannot be decomposed. Hence, their disposal creates quite jeopardy. Burning plastics and sub related products release harmful and poisonous gases, thus the only way to get rid of it is to bury it. Millions of acres of land every year is being taken away by landfill sites where the plastics are buried, rendering the piece of land useless and unproductive. It also is a source of death of thousands of animals every year who take it mistakenly for food and choke on it. It also causes littering problems due its light weight, as wind easily seems to carry it anywhere.

            We have so much relied on the sources of pollution in our daily lives that is has become almost inevitable to avoid them. We cannot resist the use of CFCs, Factories, Power Stations and Plastics in our daily life and yet these things will continue to have cataclysmic and long lasting effects on the environment, more importantly the world we live in.