Env 100 Environmental Pollutants Sewage and Fossil Fuels
Environmental Pollutants: Sewage and Fossil Fuels
ENV/100
March 2013
Environmental Pollutants: Sewage and Fossil Fuels
Environmental pollutants, according to the Blacksmith Institute (2013) negatively affect billions of the world’s population as a result of exposure to poisons associated with sewage and the fossil fuel crude oil. These poisons have led to long-term detrimental effects on ecosystems and has attributed to the premature deaths of 40% or 2.8 billion of the world’s population of which three million children under the age of five die prematurely because of exposure these contaminants. Researchers estimate that this number will grow to approximately 3.6 billion by 2050 if these invasive toxins continue to remain prevalent in the world’s environment (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2012). In this paper, Team D will discuss the effects that sewage and crude oil have on the quality of air, soil, and water, environmental biological diversity, disposal methods, and alternative solutions toward the use of crude oil (University of Phoenix, 2013, Week Five Syllabus).
Sewage
As defined by Oilgae (2013) sewage refers to wastewater that commonly derives from liquid or solid human activities that contaminate the Earth’s air, soil, and water. These contaminates contain infectious organisms, referred to pathogens that cause diseases, such as bacteria dysentery and cholera, viral diseases of hepatitis and polio, and protozoal disease of amoebic dysentery and giardiasis (Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, 2002). Additionally, as stated by Nakate (2013) these toxins alter biological diversity through eutrophication, which degrades water quality, ultimately alters aquatic species, hinders native plants, and increases biological oxygen demand (BOD). As the rise in levels of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous as well as organic wastes in water pathways initiates extreme growth of bacteria and algae that
ENV/100
March 2013
Environmental Pollutants: Sewage and Fossil Fuels
Environmental pollutants, according to the Blacksmith Institute (2013) negatively affect billions of the world’s population as a result of exposure to poisons associated with sewage and the fossil fuel crude oil. These poisons have led to long-term detrimental effects on ecosystems and has attributed to the premature deaths of 40% or 2.8 billion of the world’s population of which three million children under the age of five die prematurely because of exposure these contaminants. Researchers estimate that this number will grow to approximately 3.6 billion by 2050 if these invasive toxins continue to remain prevalent in the world’s environment (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2012). In this paper, Team D will discuss the effects that sewage and crude oil have on the quality of air, soil, and water, environmental biological diversity, disposal methods, and alternative solutions toward the use of crude oil (University of Phoenix, 2013, Week Five Syllabus).
Sewage
As defined by Oilgae (2013) sewage refers to wastewater that commonly derives from liquid or solid human activities that contaminate the Earth’s air, soil, and water. These contaminates contain infectious organisms, referred to pathogens that cause diseases, such as bacteria dysentery and cholera, viral diseases of hepatitis and polio, and protozoal disease of amoebic dysentery and giardiasis (Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, 2002). Additionally, as stated by Nakate (2013) these toxins alter biological diversity through eutrophication, which degrades water quality, ultimately alters aquatic species, hinders native plants, and increases biological oxygen demand (BOD). As the rise in levels of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous as well as organic wastes in water pathways initiates extreme growth of bacteria and algae that
References: Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. (2012, March 15). OECD environmental outlook to 2050: The consequences of inaction Septer, J. D. (2013). Waste oil recycling information. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/ about_6596196_waste-oil-recycling-information.html Shandilya, R. (2013, March 5). Facts about water pollution. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.