India is a country which is known for its breath taking culture and history and is home to amazing monuments such as the India gate, Taj Mahal, Gateway of India, the Queen’s necklace, Golden temple and many more. On the other hand, it is home to the city with the highest air pollution in the world, Delhi (refer to figure 2). India is also the highest in the world for unsafe water deaths (refer to figure 3). This report will provide pollution in India is poisonous for the ecosystem which involves living things and nonliving things.
92% of the world’s population live in places where air quality is worse than the WHO’s recommended limits. The causes of air pollution are Particulate matter, also known as, PM is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air which and some of these particles are visible with the naked eye whereas others need a microscope. PM 2.5 are fine inhalable particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less. PM2.5 are the most harmful because they can reach deep into the lungs and breach the blood-brain barrier. PM 10 are inhalable particles which have a diameter ranging from 10 micrometers or less. Chemicals like sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide which react with water after being dumped by factories, industrial or manufacturing plants. These chemicals react with water and when the water evaporates it causes acid rain. Acid rain contains hydrogen ions which leads to trees and crops being damaged, harm marine animals and corrosion in metals. Refer to figure 1 for more causes. Household chemicals without ventilation causes indoor air pollution and volcanoes, dust storms and forest cause natural air pollution. the major sources of air pollution inside houses are tobacco smoke and smoke from solid fuels with inefficient and leaky cooking stoves. The effects of air pollution are irritation in the throat, nose, lungs and eyes which causes and worsens breathing problems like asthma. Contaminated air reduces the body’s defences which results in decreasing the body’s capacity to fight other respiratory infections, frequent exposure to contaminated air increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases because air that contains fine particulate matter can result in arteries becoming hard, cardiac arrhythmia or a heart attack. Furthermore, smog which is a mixture of smoke and fog, causes harmful health effects and high concentrations of carbon particles in the air cause dolphins which live in the Ganges get a black lung disease. Also people with heart disease, children and senior citizens are sensitive to air pollution. Ozone is another pollutant which is dangerous for vegetation as it causes plants to turn yellow causing them to die and cause farmers to lose crops. Particulate matter such as cement dust, magnesium-lime dust and carbon soot deposited on vegetation can interfere with the normal respiration and photosynthesis mechanisms within the leaf. Cement dust may cause death of leaf tissue. Animals are exposed to air pollutants via three pathways which are,inhalation of gases or small particles, ingestion of particles suspended in food or water or by the absorption of gases through the skin.Volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, emitted from industrial processes, undergo chemical change in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight to form ozone. Ozone, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide primarily affect the respiratory system, and it is likely that birds are even more susceptible to gaseous pollutant injury than mammals due to their high respiratory rates.There are a number of air pollutants that are categorised as particulates. Heavy metals are emitted by smelters, fluoride is emitted in both gaseous and particulate form from aluminium reduction plants and coal-fired power plants and dioxins, furans, and mercury are emitted by resource recovery facilities. Metals may affect the circulatory, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems of animals. Often organs such as the kidney, liver, and brain are targeted. Entire populations of species can be affected as metal contamination can cause changes in birth, growth, and death rates. Fluoride poisoning, or fluorosis, causes gross malformations of bones and teeth.