WATER POLLUTION

Pollution is one factor that has been of concern for more than decades, yet
people are so careless and they still continue polluting the environment that they live
in. Pollution is happening in every aspect of the environment, and here we discuss
mainly of water pollution. Pollution literally means contamination of water, air or any
other forms of the environment that could be hazardous to the ecosystem in totality.
Pollution of water occurs when contaminants are discharged either indirectly or
directly into the water bodies, without adequate treatment to remove components
that are harmful. This would in turn affect the flora and fauna of the water bodies.
The most common factors that contribute to the contamination of water would be
sewage, radioactive wastes, improper disposal of waste on land, and many more.
When pollution occurs, it automatically causes an imbalance in the life forms in
water. For example when sewage and fertilizers are released into the water, the
nutrients from these wastes would lead to an abnormal growth in water organisms
like the algae and water plants thus resulting in growth in large sizes. This could in
turn block the waterways and create a layer at the top surface of the water thus
blocking the oxygen in the water, which would harm the other fauna in the water
bodies, who does require oxygen just like how we humans do. It is a chain reaction,
which just begins of careless disposal of waste into water bodies. If proper treatment
and careful analysis is done, such a dangerous situation can be avoided. Another
major concern regarding water pollution is the entry of foreign of organisms that
happens through sewage, septic tanks, boats that dump wastes etc. this eventually
causes a greater level of contamination and could also affect humans either directly
or indirectly. There are numerous water borne diseases that affects humans and
could even cause death, in severe conditions. Apart from that, animals could also be
affected and in some cases even if the animals seem to be healthy, the could be
carriers and when they are consumed, they could spread the disease. An entire food
chain is affected in one way or the other, when there is contamination of water even
in little dozes. Another major source of water pollution is by radioactive substance
and this is mainly found in oils and factory sewages. When these sewages and oil
spills are not controlled, they could damage the water ecosystem as the temperature
in the water rises when factory wastes like coolants are being disposed into water
and this rise in temperature may lead to a total discomfort in the water life. When
disposing such dangerous elements into the water bodies, careful analyses and
proper disposal methods should be opted, rather than just dumping directly to water
bodies. Another major area of concern is the groundwater pollution. With the
disposal of wastes on land surfaces, when it gets decomposed it would gradually get
to the bottom level where there is ground waters and this could gradually get

contaminated and would cause the entire water chain of consumers to be in trouble.
If this present scenario of polluting water is not considered seriously, then it would
lead to great dangers in the future. About 70% of this globe is water and when all this
water is being contaminated, where would we turn to? Water pollution is a major
concern in the third world countries, where millions of people obtain water for
drinking from the unprotected ponds and streams, which is being contaminated by
human wastes. This in turn causes fatal diseases and even leads to death. Creating
awareness and setting examples are the best methods to gradually get in control of
this situation. As the first step to these moves, there are many waste treatment
plants both for domestic wastes and industrial wastes have come to be a way of life.
These plants help to process the waste and reduce the harmful and toxic content of
the wastes before being let to the water bodies. Such initiatives for the treatment of
all wastes, when done in a proper and orderly manner, we would all have a better
world to live in.Live and Let Live as the saying goes, every living creature, be it big
or small has the right to live in this world and eliminating them by careless deeds is a
sin, that should be corrected NOW and not later

CHANGING FAMILY VALUES

There has been a trend over recent decades for families to
become less close than they were in the past and this situation is largely
accepted in society. One of the first reasons for a decline in the
closeness of families is connected to the busy lifestyles that we now
lead. Most people are having to work longer hours and often both
parents work, so they simply do not have as much time to spend with
each other as they did in the past. Another factor is the materialistic and
consumer driven culture we now live in, which has led to less value
being placed on family relationships. Modern technology also means
that people are more interested in their online life than interacting with
their family in their free time. It could be argued that this has benefits. If
people are not so close with their family, they are free to pursue their
own dreams and aspirations, and to focus on improving their own
lifestyle. However, I believe that there are far more negative outcomes.
The most important factors leading to a fulfilled and happy life are
emotional security and comfort. Without these we are in danger of
feeling lost. It is a difficult world we live in and we need the support of
people close to us to cope with modern life. We are seeing a rise in
mental health problems in many countries and this may well be a factor
in this. To conclude, busy modern lifestyles, changing cultural values and
modern technology are causing families to become less close. We
should try to halt this trend as it has more negative than positive
outcomes.