Water pollution can be easily defined as the contamination of water resources by non-native organisms. It mainly occurs due to different types of human activities, especially those that involve water management and pollution control. It is considered a global problem by many scientists and environmentalists. Water pollution can be caused when water resources like oceans, lakes, rivers and aquifers become polluted with agricultural and industrial wastes. When water becomes polluted, it severely affects all living forms which indirectly or directly depend on that resource. Some of the major water pollution effects are climate change, acid rain, air pollution, occupational exposure to toxic chemicals, damage to aquatic habitats and depletion of oxygen.
Climate change is one of the causes of water pollution as it alters the circulation of the atmospheric currents and thus affecting climate, resulting in increased evaporation and rainfall. This causes rivers to expand and create lakes that feed into seas. As a result, toxic chemical and organic substances are deposited at the base of the ocean bottoms. These chemicals can pollute the marine food chain, which is one of the causes of dangerous diseases affecting aquatic animals.
Acid rain causes the destruction of trees and crops by converting green vegetation into dry leaf litter, leading to an increase in the acid levels in the atmosphere. Air pollution consists of release of toxic gases into the atmosphere, most of which are released by manufacturing industries. This causes clouds to form, which block the sun’s rays. This causes severe reduction in the ozone layer and results in global warming.
Industrial effluence is a major cause of water pollution. Industrial effluents discharge to the oceans, rivers and lakes, affecting aquatic habitats. They are commonly discharged by power plants to clean air ducts. They are discharged into bodies of water such as oceans, rivers and lakes. Industrial effluents are major causes of the depletion of oxygen in the aquatic system. They deplete the oxygen needed for aquatic creatures to survive.
Radioactive waste is another cause of water pollution. The radiations caused by cosmic rays penetrate the earth’s surface and emit heat. This heat carried by the radiation affects the global climate and weather, resulting in increasing temperatures and changing climate. Some polluted sediments release more radioactive waste into the atmosphere than others.
Another type of water pollution is the effect of toxic chemicals. These chemicals are discharged into oceans from factories. Most of these chemicals are released as a result of manufacturing plastic bottles, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and other industrial waste. As they settle on the ocean floor, they accumulate nutrients such as nitrogen and sulfur. As they form nitrites and nitrates, which are common components of polluted waters, they increase the acidity levels of the ocean.
Ocean pollution leads to dead zones in the marine ecosystems. Dead zones occur when there is less oxygen available for the fish and other organisms. Fish die because they cannot survive in the polluted water. In fact, the main source of food in such dead zones are microscopic plankton. Fish and other aquatic life cannot exist in such conditions. They eventually die.
Water pollution has many causes and consequences. One of the most important causes is detrimental effects on aquatic ecosystems. However, there are also some indirect effects. Studies show that when the ecosystem becomes polluted, species of birds, fish and even insects tend to be affected. They cannot survive in the polluted water bodies, so they go elsewhere.
Another important cause is depletion of oxygen. There have been some global scale efforts to control the causes and effects of water pollution through effective management of sewage systems. However, these efforts are yet to bring about major changes in the world’s poor air quality. Efforts to control both the causes and the consequences will have to go hand in hand if we want to achieve healthy air.
A major consequence of water pollution is contamination of drinking water. Every time there are factory emissions, there are harmful effects on the aquatic systems. When it rains, the water pollution problem becomes even worse. This is mainly due to the effects of chemicals released in the air by factories and vehicles on the aquatic plants and animals living in lakes and streams.
The Minamata Dam is a great example of how water pollution affects us. At one point, it had more than six million cubic meters of water stored in it. It was later converted to drinking water, although no one seemed to know what would happen once it started filling with water. The water level soon rose above the Minamata River and people began to suffer from various water-borne diseases. The water pollution was so severe that the number of premature deaths began to increase rapidly.