Land pollution

Land pollution is the deterioration (destruction) of the earth’s land surfaces, often directly or indirectly as a result of man’s activities and their misuse of land resources.

It occurs when waste is not disposed off properly, or can occur when humans throw chemicals unto the soil in the form of pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers during agricultural practices. Exploitation of minerals (mining activities) has also contributed to the destruction of the earth’s surface.

Types of land pollution- There are different types of land pollution. Many publications group them differently. Let us see these four main types:

Solid Waste- These include all the various kinds of rubbish we make at home, school, hospitals, market and work places. Things like paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans, food and even used cars and broken electronic goods, broken furniture and hospital waste are all examples of solid waste. Some of these are biodegradable like paper products etc; others are not biodegradable like plastics, metals etc.

Pesticides and Fertilizers- Many farming activities engage in the application of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides for higher crop yield. The excess further washed up with rain and mixes with ground soil causing land pollution.

Chemicals- Chemical and nuclear power plants produce waste materials that have to be stored somewhere. Fertilizer, insecticides, pesticides, pharmaceuticals manufacturers also produce lots of solid and liquid waste. In many cases they are stored in an environmentally safe way, but there are some that find their way into landfills and other less safe storage facilities. Sometimes they also find their way into leaking pipes and gutters. They end up polluting soils and making crops harmful to our health.

Deforestation- Humans depend on trees for many purposes and hence cuts down trees but as many trees are cut daily even not a portion of same planted annually. This leads to deforestation.