Research Paper on the Cause and Effect of Water Pollution

Research Paper on the Cause and Effect of Water Pollution

Water comprises 71% of the earth’s surface. With vast oceans and seas, it is a common notion that there is plenty of water around for people to drink but in reality, drinking water is a rare commodity. According to Cain in the article “what percent of Earth is water?”, 97.5% of all the water on Earth is contained within the oceans, while the remaining 2.5% is freshwater lakes and frozen water locked up in glaciers and the polar ice caps – almost 69% of the fresh water on Earth is ice. Along with oxygen, water is the reason why our planet Earth can support life.

Despite the importance of water, humans have continued to pollute such important resource and now, we suffer the consequences of our actions. At present, water pollution is a serious threat to all of mankind. Yet, man continues to disregard the value of water.

Water pollution has many harmful effects. One major effect of water pollution is on human health. Dirty water is the culprit in water borne diseases such typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, diarrhea, and other gastro-intestinal problems. Being dependent on water, animals could also contract diseases from polluted water. Marine life is also highly affected by water pollution in different ways, such as when heavy metals from industrial processes accumulate in bodies of water, it becomes toxic to fish and shellfish and later on to humans who consume them.

Water pollution has several causes. It can be due to natural causes such as erosion or volcanic eruption. However, there is a unanimous agreement that water pollution results mainly from the increasing pace of industrialization. Water pollution can result from erosion due to deforestation or urbanisation, industrialization and other human activities. Throwing garbage in the open seas, called marine dumping, is a concrete example of water pollution. It may also be the result of improper treatment and disposal of sewage and wastewater from households or the industrial waste from factories. Eutrophication, which is the enrichment of a water ecosystem with chemical nutrients, typically compounds containing nitrogen, phosphorus, or both, could lead to water pollution (“Eutrophication”). Oil spillage from ships, underground storage leakages, and radioactive waste from operations conducted by nuclear power stations, as well as mining and refining of Uranium are also other causes.

Neglect and indifference towards the preservation of our water resources may have negative irreversible long term repercussions and the human race is but to blame. While there is still available clean water to drink and pristine marine habitats, the race to conservation and preservation of such important natural resources should begin within each one of us.

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