Short Communication - (2021) Volume 9, Issue 3
Impact of industrialization on environment
Tosiya Ito*
Description
In the middle of the 1700s, when the world’s population had finally started recovering from the deaths of the Black Plague, the industrial revolution started. The world’s population detonated, reaching 1 billion by 1800 and then doubling again by 1926. By the opening of the 21st century, it had fully grown to 6 billion.
When it comes to industrialization, there are four main effective points. Air, water, soil and habitat.
The major problem is air pollution, affected by the smoke and emissions produced by burning fossil fuels. The United States EPA controls more than 80 different toxins that can be found in industrial pollution, from asbestos and dioxin to lead and chromium (Harold, 1979). In spite of these rules, industries are among the worst producers of air pollution in the biosphere.
Water pollution is also an unavoidable problem, especially in regions where factories are constructed next to natural water sources. These toxins can come in a variation of forms- solid, liquid or gaseous and they can all end up contaminating the local water supplies. Even landfills and other waste disposal areas can leak toxins into the local water supply, causing to water pollution as in the case of River (Nile Clark, 1972).
Soil contamination is another major problem that goes hand in hand with industrialization. Lead is one of the most common form of soil pollution, but other heavy metals and toxic chemicals can also enter into the soil and, in turn, contaminate any crops that grow there (Ljubo, 2015).
Finally, industrialization has led to dramatic habitat devastation. Woods are cut down for their lumber, and ecosystems are destroyed to create streets, strip mines and gravel pits (Sandra, 2014). Abolishing these habitats upsets local ecosystems and leads to plant and animal extermination if the species are unable to move or adapt to their new environs.
First, industries can diminish their reliance on a product that is causing pollution. One decent example is eradicating lead from gasoline in the 1970s. We have dropped our dependence on lead, which condensed the amount of this heavy metal being leached into the surrounding environment.
The other option is to treat manufacturing waste to eliminate toxic components so that the rest of the waste can be disposed of safely. It isn’t always easy, and it does require that each factory implements the proper actions to purify or cleanse their waste byproducts. However, it can help decrease the soil, air and water pollution being produced by these facilities, and also help in conservation of natural resources.
The industrial revolution may have changed the way that we look at the world, but it also changed the impact we had on this planet that we call home. Now that we’ve realized the problem, it’s up to us to fix it so that we can continue to grow and change without destroying our home in the name of progress.
Conclusion
Industrialization has carried financial wealth; moreover it has caused in more population, development, obvious stress on the elementary life supporting systems while pushing the ecological influences closer to the threshold bounds of tolerance. With wealthy industrial growth and relatively low land mass, ecological sustainability is now becoming an important determining factor in industrial development process. Collecting evidences continuously indicate that the evolution of the current industries into eco-industrial system through positive application of green approaches provides a feasible solution to preserve the natural resources of the region while parallel enhances the regional economy on a sustainable basis.
References
- Harold ME (1979). Air pollution acronyms. J Air Pollut Control Assoc. 29(2):189-191.
- Clark RB (1972). The control of water pollution; the effects of marine pollution. Mar Pollut Bull. 3(3):1-48.
- Ljubo P (2015). Pollution of basic natural resources with hazardous matters. Economica. 62(4):1095-1107.
Sandra T (2014). Analysis of heavy mental pollution in river. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J. 6(1):129-149.