LAND POLLUTION

BIOLOGY PROJECT
M A D E BY HA M M A D . S H A R I Q . A HM E D
GRADE IX-S
 WHAT IS LAND POLLUTION ? ? ?

Land pollution may be understood as

the deterioration of the earths land
surfaces, often directly or indirectly
as a result of mans activities.
CAUSES OF LAND POLLUTION
TOPIC # 1
DEGENERATIVE ACTIONS
Include a lot of human
actions, like deforestation,
overuse of pesticides and
chemical fertilizers,
desertification, mining,
inefficient and / or inadequate
waste treatment, landfill,
litter, etc. Many of these are
unavoidable; however,
definitely the severity of
these actions in terms of the
effects they have on the land
can be reduced by taking
appropriate and adequate
corrective measures.
 MISUSE OF LAND
Mainly refers to cutting
trees to clear land for
agriculture, as well as
processes like
desertification and land
conversion.
Desertification is when effects
of human development or
other actions convert a piece
of fertile land into desert-land
or dry-land. Land once
converted to desert-land can
never be reclaimed by any
amount of corrective
measures.
 INEFFICIENT USE OF LAND

Inefficient use of land as such is not

going to cause land pollution.
However, inefficient use of land
amounts to wastage, and hence
shortage of land; and it is precisely
during such conditions that man has
to resort to measure such as
deforestation and others to meet his
needs. It is an indirect cause of land
pollution that is often largely
 SOIL POLLUTION

When the top-most 'soil' layer of land is destroyed

or polluted. Soil pollution is again another cause
of land pollution that affects not only the land,
but also a lot of other things such as forest cover
of a region, productivity of land in terms of
agriculture, grazing etc. Soil pollution is also
caused by wrong agricultural practices, such as
overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
 LAND CONVERSION

When a piece of land is converted from its

indigenous form to a form used for either
agriculture or infrastructure. Land conversion is
especially a growing problem that we possibly do
not have a good solution for. Using a piece of land
to its maximum potential is the key to eliminate
many of the causes of land pollution, such as this
one.
 OTHER

key causes of land

pollution include -
urbanization,
improper waste
disposal, industrial
activities, nuclear
research, chemicals
released by all sorts
of heavy industries,
coal-fired power
plants, metals
production industries,
etc.
EFFECTS OF LAND
POLLUTION
TOPIC # 2
 EFFECTS ON CLIMATE
Land pollutions leads to loss in the forest cover of
Earth. This is in turn going to affect the amount of
rain. Less rain mean lesser vegetation. The effect
of all different kinds of pollution will eventually
lead to problems like acid rains, greenhouse
effect, global warming.
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES
Species are pushed towards
endangerment and extinction
primarily by two processes.
Habitat fragmentation is the
fragmentation of the natural
habitat of an organism; cause
primarily by urban sprawl. Habitat
destruction, on the other hand, is
when land clearing adversely
affects animals special such that
their natural habitat is lost. Both
the actions can cause some
species to go extinct and others to
become invasive.
 BIO MAGNIFICATION

Process in which certain non-biodegradable

substances go on accumulating in the food-chain.
The most common example is of methyl mercury
in fish and mercury in eagles. Not only does bio
magnification put the particular species at risk, it
puts all the species above and below it at risk,
and ultimately affects the food pyramid.
 EFFECTS ON BIODIVERSITY

Species extinction and bio magnification is

going to overthrow the balance of nature
very significantly. The main reason for this
is disturbance created in the food chain. To
give you a very simple example - on
account of bio magnification of mercury in
eagles, they might go extinct in the
subsequent years. However, we know
eagles prey on snakes. Less (or no) eagles
will then result in more number of snakes!
PREVENTION OF LAND
POLLUTION
TOPIC # 3
 PERSONAL LEVEL
As you may have realized, land pollution is indeed
going to affect a lot more things than we thought it
will. Hence, I leave you with some corrective measure
you can take on a personal level to reduce land
pollution.
Encourage organic farming - buy organic food.
Proper garbage disposal - separate your garbage
before you give it to the garbage collector; and
strictly say NO to plastic.
Encourage recycling - buy recycled products,
notebooks, paper, etc.
Restrict use of herbicides and pesticides - they are
not only used in farm, but in your own backyard as
well.
 DISPOSAL OF WASTES

Proper waste management is the most important

thing to do for the prevention of land pollution.
Several steps should be taken to ensure that the
waste gets disposed in the most harmless way,
i.e. produces less or no toxins.
 DISPOSAL OF WASTES

One of the ways of doing this is by separating dry

and wet waste. Dry waste should be recycled or it
can be burned. On the other hand, wet waste
should be decomposed.
 DISPOSAL OF WASTES

This decomposed waste should be further

dumped in pits so that it can be converted into
compost and used for agriculture. When disposing
of waste, the authorities should treat it with
various kinds of chemicals, so that it has a very
low level of toxicity.
 RECYCLING AND REUSE

People should buy and use products that have

been recycled. For instance, plastic bags should
be given up; instead, jute bags should be used.
Reusing old items is another good way to reduce
the stress on various resources. Clothes, paper,
glass, everything should be recycled and reused,
as far as possible.
 BIODEGRADABLE PRODUCTS

People should buy

biodegradable
products. Go organic
- that's the mantra
for avoiding land
pollution. Organic
farming, lessening
the use of pesticides,
buying organic fruits
and vegetables and
other products, will
keep land pollution in
check.
GROW MORE TREES

Initiative should be
taken to grow
more trees.
Researches show
that trees can
actually fertilize
the soil. This
means that by
growing trees, soil
will become fertile,
agriculture will get
boosted and land
pollution will
greatly reduce.
 EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES

There should be minimal wastage. There should

be no littering. Oil and petrol should be used
judiciously. So should all the other products and
resources made from glass, plastic, metal and
paper.
 SOME MORE
Both individuals and authorities have to make
positive changes in the way they conduct
things. Spreading awareness, amongst the
common people, to use organic,
biodegradable products and to efficiently use
resources, should be taken up seriously by
the government. The industries too should
follow proper procedures of industrial waste
disposal. In addition to this, trees should be
saved and more plants should be grown. All
these initiatives are mandatory for any
project on the prevention of land pollution, to
be successful.
 CITATION

http://
www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-an
d-effects-of-land-pollution.html
http://
www.buzzle.com/articles/preventi
on-of-land-pollution.html
http://
www.all-recycling-facts.com/cause
-of-land-pollution.html
THANKS&REGARDS
MADE
by
HAMMAD SHARIQ
AND
SAMIULLAH KHATRI