Causes And Effects

Along with  air and water pollution, soil pollution is an equally serious issue that the modern-day world is confronted with.

Soil Pollution Effects

What Causes Soil Pollution?

Soil pollution is a result of many activities and experiments done by mankind which end up contaminating the soil. Here are some of the leading soil pollution causes:

• Industrial wastes such as harmful gases and chemicals, agricultural pesticides, fertilizers and insecticides are the most common causes of soil pollution.
• Ignorance towards soil management and related systems.
• Unfavorable and harmful irrigation practices.
• Improper septic system and management and maintenance of the same.
• Leakages from sanitary sewage.
• Acid rains, when fumes released from industries get mixed with rains.
• Fuel leakages from automobiles, that get washed away due to rain and seep into the nearby soil.
• Unhealthy waste management techniques, which are characterized by release of sewage into the large dumping grounds and nearby streams or rivers.

The intensity of all these causes on a local or regional level might appear very small and you may argue that soil is not harmed by above activities if done on a small scale! However, thinking globally, it is not your region or my place that will be the only sufferer of soil pollution. In fact, it is the entire planet and mankind that will encounter serious problems, as these practices are evident almost everywhere in the world. Want to know what are those problems which can turn more serious in the near future?

What are the Effects of Soil Pollution?

The effects of pollution on soil are quite alarming and can cause huge disturbances in the ecological balance and health of living creatures on earth. Some of the most serious soil pollution effects are:

• Decrease in soil fertility and therefore decrease in the soil yield. How can one expect contaminated soil to produce healthy crops?
• Loss of soil and natural nutrients present in it. Plants also would not thrive in such soil, which would further result in soil erosion.
• Disturbance in the balance of flora and fauna residing in the soil.
• Increase in salinity of the soil, which therefore makes it unfit for vegetation, thus making it useless and barren.
• Generally crops cannot grow and flourish in polluted soil. Yet, if some crops manage to grow, they would be poisonous enough to cause serious health problems in people consuming them.
• Creation of toxic dust is another potential effect of soil pollution.
• Foul smell due to industrial chemicals and gases might result in headaches, fatigue, nausea, etc., in many people.
• Soil pollutants would bring in alteration in the soil structure, which would lead to death of many essential organisms in it. This would also affect the larger predators and compel them to move to other places, once they lose their food supply.