The Pollution Solution

There are many types of pollution and I would bet that each of us come into contact with them every day.  The three main types are air, water, and soil.  Can you guess the cause? That’s right….us…the very people that complain of the issue.  So rather than complain, let us find solutions to pollution.  But first, some background on the three types…

Air Pollution- It is the accumulation in the atmosphere of substances, mostly tobacco smoke, exhaust fumes, and combustion of coal, that endanger human health.  There are six major types including carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide, photochemicals, nitrogen oxides, and particulates. 

Water Pollution- It is the addition of dissolved or suspended solids into fresh or ocean waters which degrade the overall quality of water affecting the organisms living into or those who drink it.  Chemicals and biological materials cause the water to lower in quality.  Some chemicals and biological materials include industrial products such as oils, salts, poisons; agricultural wastes such as pesticides, fertilizers, bacteria, and herbicides; and sewage. 

Soil Pollution- Very much like water pollution because it is usually due to the water source.  Herbicides, pesticides, and sewage can alter the overall quality of the soil and may cause harm to those who use it. 

Before researching this topic, I was more familiar with air pollution.  I feel that there is more attention brought to this topic in the media.  TV commercials and programming have focused on this issue and have highlighted ways to decrease our impact on the environment through pollution.  There are many solutions to pollution and it all starts with knowledge.  Many people are simply not aware that smoking and driving have an impact (and you were happy you no longer needed to get an E-check).  By educating the public that dumping chemicals into rivers and the like are no acceptable, we can only then begin to combat the human cause.  However, there are cases where water sources are unintentionally polluted.  Take for example the recent cruise line crash where oil and gasoline spilled into waters off of the coast of Italy or the Gulf oil spill.  The list goes on but where to begin…education?

The endangered species that I wanted to focus on this week is the Andean Catfish.  This catfish is endangered mostly due to pollution of it habitat.  Catfish are the world’s most abundant fish but this species lives in Ecuador in rivers and streams.  It is critically endangered due to not only pollution but overfishing.