Consequences of soil pollution: how to minimize them?

Recently, the human impact on nature has increased significantly, so there was a threat of depletion of certain resources. In addition, the scale of waste emissions into nature has increased. It touched also the soils, which are the most important component of the biosphere and determine many processes occurring in it. It is the soil cover that is the base for human settlement, and therefore the consequences of soil contamination should be prevented as far as possible.

Soil and its importance in human life

This is a natural formation of great importance for man. First of all as a source of food. In addition, the soil cover is involved in creating an optimally positive environment for the life, recreation and work of people.

Thanks to the land resources of our planet, it is possible to provide the population with the necessary food products, which is much larger in number than now living on the Earth. Also, the soil is a regulator of the chemical composition of the hydrosphere, the atmosphere.

Types of soil contamination

The consequences of soil pollution can be minimized, but for this it is necessary to know well which species and sources exist.

The main pollutants of the soil cover are: mineral fertilizers, pesticides (toxic chemicals), gas-smoke emissions into the atmosphere, waste products, oil and oil products.

Pesticides are chemicals commonly used in agriculture to control weeds and pests. Accumulating in the soil, they can be transmitted along the food chain and cause serious diseases in animals and humans. In the world, the production of pesticides is constantly growing, which has a very negative impact on health.

Mineral fertilizers can also cause soil pollution and its consequences. This occurs as a result of using them in unreasonable quantities, with losses during production or transportation.

Wastes and waste products also lead to intensive soil contamination. Large areas of land are occupied by landfills, among which there are many toxic ones.

Gas-smoke emissions cause enormous damage to the normal functioning of soils. Industrial enterprises emit pollutants (heavy metals), especially dangerous for people, which the soil is able to accumulate.

As a result of the imperfection of oil production technology, one of the most acute environmental problems in our country is contamination of the upper layer of the lithosphere with oil and its products.

Scope of the problem

In this age of scientific and technical breakthrough, the negative impact of man on nature in general, and especially on the upper layer of the lithosphere, has increased significantly. From the intervention of people the factors of soil formation, the nature of the earth , change.

The main effects of exposure to soil are:

• erosion;
• Desertification;
• Bogging;
• pollution.

Recently, the issue of pollution of the lithosphere is particularly acute, in particular, attention should be paid to such problems as soil pollution sources, pollution effects and solutions.

Sources

The main factors causing soil contamination are:

• Household enterprises and residential houses (food waste, domestic garbage, feces, garbage of public organizations);
• Agriculture (pesticides, fertilizers);
• Industrial enterprises (heavy metals);
• Transport (exhaust gases settling on the surface of the soil).

Effects

Contamination is considered the entry into it of various kinds of waste, toxic substances, chemicals, which lead to the inevitable result. The consequences of soil contamination are inevitable and include: changing the terrain, its structure, sedimentation and movement of rocks, activation of dangerous geological processes. All this has an extremely negative effect on the vital activity of microorganisms in the earthen cover, fertility. The ecosystem itself is being destroyed. The negative consequences of pollution of the lithosphere, unquestionably, affect the health of the population, which is deteriorating with each generation.

Ways to solve the problem

Green plantations can play an important role in the process of soil restoration. If along the motorway to create a solid green stripe of hawthorn or maple, a significant part of the exhaust gases will be absorbed by them. The most polluted areas can also be taken under the forest planting.

The consequences of soil contamination can be reduced by starting to recycle waste. It would be superfluous to reclaim land, introduce clear control over the use of mineral fertilizers. Contamination with pesticides can be reduced by improving their composition and preventing piles in the soil cover. As an alternative to pesticides it is likely to use insect predators, the so-called biological protection (ants, beetles, ladybugs). For construction, it is necessary to take land that is unsuitable for agriculture. As far as possible, it is necessary to remove oil from the soil .

The population of the Earth has an enormous natural wealth . This is the soil. Causes, the consequence of soil contamination remain today to be one of the most pressing issues that specialists should deal with. At the moment, this problem is one of the most important tasks of mankind. Solve it only if you approach the issue in a comprehensive manner, without missing out on details and without making allowances.