When we talk about air or water pollution, the reactions garnered are stronger. This is because we can see the effects caused by the pollutants and their extent very clearly. It is normal human psychology to believe in what you see first-hand. Our land on the other hand is living a nightmare too. We may not be able to see the effects with clarity, but land is being polluted and abused constantly and we are unable to calculate the damages incurred. Land Pollution has come to become one of the serious concerns that we collectively battle.

Land pollution, in other words, means degradation or destruction of earth’s surface and soil, directly or indirectly as a result of human activities. Anthropogenic activities are conducted citing development, and the same affects the land drastically, we witness land pollution; by drastic we are referring to any activity that lessens the quality and/or productivity of the land as an ideal place for agriculture, forestation, construction etc. The degradation of land that could be used constructively in other words is land pollution.

Land Pollution has led to a series of issues that we have come to realize in recent times, after decades of neglect. The increasing numbers of barren land plots and the decreasing numbers of forest cover is at an alarming ratio. Moreover the extension of cities and towns due to increasing population is leading to further exploitation of the land. Landfills and reclamations are being planned and executed to meet the increased demand of lands. This leads to further deterioration of land, and pollution caused by the land fill contents. Also due to the lack of green cover, the land gets affected in several ways like soil erosion occurs washing away the fertile portions of the land. Or even a landslide can be seen as an example.

Types of land pollution.

There are different types of land pollution. Many publications group them differently. Let us see these four main types:

Solid Waste

These include all the various kinds of rubbish we make at home, school, hospitals, market and work places. Things like paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans, food and even used cars and broken electronic goods, broken furniture and hospital waste are all examples of solid waste. Some of these are biodegradable (meaning they easily rot or decay into organic matter). Examples include food droppings, paper products as well as vegetation (like grass and twigs). Others are not biodegradable, and they include plastics, metals and aluminum cans, broken computer and car parts.

Because these do not easily decay, they pile up in landfills (a place where all the city’s rubbish are sent), where they stay for thousands of years. These bring great harm to the land and people around it. See the complete lesson on WASTE here.

Pesticides and Fertilizers

Many farming activities engage in the application of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides for higher crop yield. This is good because we get more food, but can you think of what happens to the chemicals that end up on the crops and soils? Sometimes, insects and small

animals are killed and bigger animals that eat tiny animals (as in food chains) are also harmed. Finally, the chemicals may be washed down as it rains and over time, they end up in the water table below (causes water pollution).

Chemicals

Chemical and nuclear power plants produce waste materials that have to be stored somewhere. Fertilizer, insecticides, pesticides, pharmaceuticals manufacturers also produce lots of solid and liquid waste. In many cases they are stored in an environmentally safe way, but there are some that find their way into landfills and other less safe storage facilities. Sometimes they also find their way into leaking pipes and gutters. They end up polluting soils and making crops harmful to our health.

Deforestation

Humans depend on trees for many things including life. Trees absorb carbon dioxide (a green house gas) from the air and enrich the air with Oxygen, which is needed for life. Trees provide wood for humans and a habitat to many land animals, insects and birds. Trees also, help replenish soils and help retain nutrients being washed away. Unfortunately, we have cut down millions of acres of tree for wood, construction, farming and mining purposes, and never planted new trees back. This is a type of land pollution.

Causes of Land Pollution

Below are the sources of land pollution:

1. Deforestation and soil erosion: Deforestation carried out to create dry lands is one of the major concerns. Land that is once converted into a dry or barren land, can never be made fertile again, whatever the magnitude of measures to redeem it are. Land conversion, meaning the alteration or modification of the original properties of the land to make it use-worthy for a specific purpose is another major cause. This hampers the land immensely. Also there is a constant waste of land. Unused available land over the years turns barren; this land then cannot be used. So in search of more land, potent land is hunted and its indigenous state is compromised with.

2. Agricultural activities: With growing human population, demand for food has increased considerably. Farmers often use highly toxic fertilizers and pesticides to get rid off insects, fungi and bacteria from their crops. However with the overuse of these chemicals, they result in contamination and poisoning of soil.

3. Mining activities: During extraction and mining activities, several land spaces are created beneath the surface. We constant hear about land caving in; this is nothing but nature’s way of filling the spaces left out after mining or extraction activity.

4. Overcrowded landfills: Each household produces tonnes of garbage each year. Garbage like aluminium, plastic, paper, cloth, wood is collected and sent to the local recycling unit. Items that cannot be recycled become a part of the landfills that hampers the beauty of the city and cause land pollution.

5. Industrialization: Due to increase in demand for food, shelter and house, more goods are produced. This resulted in creation of more waste that needs to be disposed of. To meet the demand of the growing population, more industries were developed which led to deforestation. Research and development paved the way for modern fertilizers and chemicals that were highly toxic and led to soil contamination.

6. Construction activities: Due to urbanization, large amount of construction activities are taking place which has resulted in large waste articles like wood, metal, bricks, plastic that can be seen by naked eyes outside any building or office which is under construction.

7. Nuclear waste: Nuclear plants can produce huge amount of energy through nuclear fission and fusion. The left over radioactive material contains harmful and toxic chemicals that can affect human health. They are dumped beneath the earth to avoid any casualty.

8. Sewage treatment: Large amount of solid waste is leftover once the sewage has been treated. The leftover material is sent to landfill site which end up in polluting the environment.

9. Atmospheric deposition: Air pollution doesn't remain air pollution forever. Ideally it disperses, so the concentration of problematic chemicals becomes so low that it no longer constitutes pollution. Sometimes, though, it falls back to the ground and becomes either water pollution or land pollution.

Effects of Land Pollution

1. Soil pollution: Soil pollution is another form of land pollution, where the upper layer of the soil is damaged. This is caused by the overuse of chemical fertilizers, soil erosion caused by running water and other pest control measures.

2. Change in climate patterns: The effects of land pollution are very hazardous and can lead to the loss of ecosystems. When land is polluted, it directly or indirectly affects the climate patterns.

3. Environmental Impact: When deforestation is committed, the tree cover is compromised on. This leads to a steep imbalance in the rain cycle. A disturbed rain cycle affects a lot of factors.

4. Effect on human health: The land when contaminated with toxic chemicals and pesticides lead to problem of skin cancer and human respiratory system. The toxic chemicals can reach our body through foods and vegetables that we eat as they are grown in polluted soil.

5. Cause Air pollution: Landfills across the city keep on growing due to increase in waste and are later burned which leads to air pollution. They become home for rodents, mice etc which in turn transmit diseases.

6. Distraction for Tourist: The city looses its attraction as tourist destination as landfills do not look good when you move around the city. It leads to loss of revenue for the state government.

7. Effect on wildlife: The animal kingdom faces a serious threat with regards to loss of habitat and natural environment. The constant human activity on land, is leaving it polluted; forcing these species to move further away and adapt to new regions or die trying to adjust

8. EXTINCTION OF SPECIES • Species are pushed towards endangerment and extinction primarily by two processes. Habitat fragmentation, Habitat destruction. Both the actions can cause some species to go extinct and others to become invasive.

9. BIO MAGNIFICATION• Process in which certain non-biodegradable substances go on accumulating in the food-chain. it puts all the species above and below it at risk, and ultimately affects the food pyramid.

10. EFFECTS ON BIODIVERSITY• Species extinction and bio magnification is going to overthrow the balance of nature very significantly. The main reason for this is disturbance created in the food chain

Other issues that we face include increased temperature, unseasonal weather activity, acid rains etc. The discharge of chemicals on land, makes it dangerous for the ecosystem too.

Solutions for Land Pollution

1. Make people aware about the concept of Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.

2. Reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers in agricultural activities.

3. Avoid buying packages items as they will lead to garbage and end up in landfill site.

4. Ensure that you do not litter on the ground and do proper disposal of garbage.

5. Buy biodegradable products.

6. Do Organic gardening and eat organic food that will be grown without the use of pesticides.

7. Create dumping ground away from residential areas.

i. Encourage organic farming.

ii. Proper garbage disposal.

iii. Recycle garbage.

iv. Reduce use of herbicides and pesticides.

v. Avoid over packaged items.

vi. Efficient utilization of resources and reducing wastage.

Policies in india

There are three key policies relating to environmental protection in India. They are:

The National Forest Policy, 1988 Policy statement for Abatement of Pollution, 1992

National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and Development, 1992

The different statutes / legislations enacted in India exclusively for environment protection are

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989 The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 The Forest (Conservation) Rules, 1981 The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 The Wildlife (Transactions and Taxidermy) Rules, 1973 The Wildlife (Stock Declaration) Central Rules, 1973 The Wildlife (Protection) Licensing (Additional Matters for Consideration) Rules, 1983 The Wildlife (Protection) Rules, 1995 The Wildlife (Specified Plants - Conditions for Possession by Licensee) Rules, 1995 The National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995 The National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997

Several creatures survive under the land too. Disrupting the harmony of the land, is disrupting their habitat. This has led to several creatures reaching the endangered status like the Gilbert's Potoroo in Australia.

We walk and survive on land. It is literally the base of our ecosystem. It is in our good interest to take care of it and nurture it.

Some important facts on land pollution.

Here are a few facts about land pollution:

Facts on paper recycling

A spokesman from a Wiltshire (UK) said the county recycled more than 700 tonnes of plastic bottles and cardboard every month. BBC

Recycling a tonne of paper spares 17 trees, and Recycling half the worlds paper would free 20 million acres of forest land.

Recycling paper uses 70% less energy than to manufacture paper from virgin materials.Every 10 tonnes of paper recycled is 10 tonnes less on its way to landfill.

The UK uses almost 13 million tonnes of paper and cardboard each year.

Paper and cardboard can decompose fairly easily, but the process gives off methane (a greenhouse gas), which contributes to  climate change

Offices in the UK throw away around 1 million tonnes of paper each year. The bulk of it ends up in the landfill.

Facts on metal recycling

Recycling 1 aluminium can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours.Once an aluminium can is recycled it is part of a new can within 6 weeks.There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminium can can be recycled.The energy it takes to make 1 new aluminium can is the same as it is to make 20 recycled

cans.Over 4 billion aluminium drinks cans were sold in 1998, if they had been collected for

recycling they would have been worth £38 million.Nearly 60% of the aluminium used in the U.K. has been previously recycled.Recycling steel and tin cans saves 74% of the energy used to produce them.

General facts

Every year one American produces over 3285 pounds of hazardous waste.Land pollution causes us to lose 24 billion tonnes of top soil every year.Americans generate 30 billion foam cups, 220 million tires and 1.8 billion disposable

diapers every year.We throw away enough trash every day to fill 63,000 garbage trucks.Every day Americans throw away 1 million bushels of litter out their car window.Over 80% of items in landfills can be recycled, but they’re not.The main human contributor to pollution are landfills.