Essay on Soil Pollution: The Dangers of Soil Degradation

Soil is also called Earth, ground or dirt, which is formed by the accumulation of Organic and Inorganic matter as a bedrock through several years of physical weathering. And, Soil Pollution is the imbalance in the composition of this Organic matter which naturally decomposes and Inorganic matter which may be integrated with harmful chemicals that don’t decompose easily and degrade the quality of the Soil causing Soil Pollution. In this Soil Pollution essay, we will understand the cause and effects of Soil Pollution.

Soil is a thin layer that consists of both Organic and Inorganic components. These materials cover the Earth's rocky surfaces. Also included is the organic part, which is made up of decomposed animal and plant material. While rock bits make up the inorganic portion. This section was created through the chemical and physical weathering of bedrock over a thousand years. Soils that are productive are important for agriculture in order to meet the world's food needs. As a result, the essay on Soil Pollution focuses on the reasons that cause Soil contamination as well as the negative consequences of Soil Pollution.

Short Essay on Soil Pollution

Human-made chemicals are the leading cause of Soil Pollution as it alters the natural Soil Environment. And the ingestion of chemicals is at a big-time high due to industrialization and increase in population. This Soil Pollution essay in English will emphasize on the fact that there are millions of chemicals naturally present in the Soil. But when there is an increase in the concentration of a few harmful chemicals, it becomes a threat to living beings as it leads to serious health hazards. 

The main contributors to Soil Pollution are the frequent use of chemical pesticides, fertilizers with higher concentrations of chemicals then decrease the natural fertility of the Earth, uncontrolled disposal of sewage, careless industrial waste spillage like of oils and solid matter from concrete matter used in making buildings and medical waste from hospitals and pharmaceutical labs and poor waste management.

All of the aforementioned causes lead to serious health conditions at all levels of the ecosystem. The plant growth is stunted when grown on such harmful grounds,  the humans who are exposed to food yielded from such an environment can experience short term consequences like fatigue, weakness, headache, skin conditions or long term problems like depression, nervous system damage and animals including aquatic life suffers a great deal from this damage as they live on the polluted water seeped from the polluted Soil.

All of this can be resolved when people are consciously reducing the disposal of such harmful wastes into the natural bodies and a proper waste management system is followed.

Long Essay on Soil Pollution

Soil like all other forms of Pollution in nature is a growing sense of dread due to its deadly consequences in all living beings in the Ecosystem. Man-made materials are the leading cause of Soil Pollution. When any matter is present in quantities larger than the needed amount, then that becomes a potent threat. In trying to grow at a greater pace they are harming the Environment. The biggest threat to this problem is the irresponsibility displayed while disposing of any waste as the disposal of chemicals are not naturally present in the Soil so this causes contamination and as the levels increase leads to Pollution. In this essay on Soil Pollution, let’s understand the causes, effects and possible solutions.

What Causes Soil Pollution?

Soil Pollution is characterized as chemicals, salts, poisonous compounds, and radioactive contaminants that stay in the Soil and have negative impacts on animal health and plant growth. Pollution of Soils can occur in a variety of ways. These are the following:

• Industrial garbage is dumped on the Earth's surface.

• A landfill seeps water.

• Underground storage tanks are bursting.

• Contaminated water seeps into the ground.

• Seepage of solid waste.

• Heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, and insecticides are examples of chemicals.

Soil Pollution Causes

A Soil pollutant is a factor that causes Soil to deteriorate owing to a reduction in the texture, mineral, or quality content of the Soil. This also disrupts the biological equilibrium of Soil-dependent organisms. Furthermore, Soil Pollution has negative consequences for plant growth. Soil contamination is usually produced by man-made applications such as contaminated surface water percolation, pesticides, fuel dumping, oil dumping, and so on.

Other operations include the leaching of pollutants from landfills, the direct dumping of industrial wastes into the Soil, and so on. Solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons, lead, pesticides, and various heavy metals are among the most prevalent compounds implicated. As a result, the occurrence of the phenomenon is highly correlated with the intensities and industrialisation of chemical use.

The following are some of the most common sources of Soil Pollution:

• Fertilizer usage is increasing.

• Insecticides, herbicides, and pesticides are used indiscriminately.

• Solid waste disposal

• Deforestation

Effects of Soil Pollution

As we go about our lives, we disregard the devastating effects of Soil Pollution on the Ecosystem and inevitably our health.

1. When we consume the food grown on such polluted Soil the crop absorbs it and then is passed on to us and leads to fatal diseases overtime.

2. Soil loses its fertility and stunts the growth of the plants and when they are harvested the contaminated Soil becomes futile as it is no longer useful for further cultivation as such lands become incompetent to support life and are deserted leaving more space to dump such harmful waste this cyclical nature of cause and effect is deadly.

3. The food that is produced from such lands also lacks good nutrients and thus creates another generation of malnourished children which hinders their natural growth physically and mentally.

4. The underground Soil water when it meets the natural aquatic bodies, it does a great deal of damage to aquatic life, both plants that grow underwater and animals.

Soil Pollution's Consequences

Some radioactive pollutants from nuclear reactors, explosions, hospitals, science labs, and other sources penetrate deeply into the Soil, where they linger for a long time and pollute the Soil.

False agricultural practices involving advanced agro-technology entail the use of massive volumes of harmful fertilisers such as herbicides, weedicides, insecticides, and other chemicals, which improve Soil fertility while gradually reducing Soil physio-chemical and biological qualities. Other forms of Soil Pollution include municipal rubbish, food processing waste, mining practices, and many others.

Soil Pollution is extremely detrimental to one's health since poisonous substances enter the body through the food chain and disrupt the entire inner body system. Individuals, particularly industrialists, should adopt all effective control measures, including environmental protection regulations, in order to reduce and minimise Soil Pollution. People should encourage the recycling and reuse of solid waste, as well as the planting of as many trees as possible.

Ways to Curb Soil Pollution

The most important step in starting to solve this problem is by creating awareness and informing people about the dire consequences, and how their contribution can do good to the ecosystem and human nature. The possible solutions to these problems are-

1. No excess use of fertilizers, and other chemicals used. As these are useful only in required quantities and when overdone leads to the damage so one can avoid overuse of the harmful substances containing chemicals.

2. Encouraging afforestation i.e. the planting of trees as the more trees planted the Erosion of Soil will be less and this will help in retaining the useful chemicals in the Soil and hence increasing the fertility of the Soil as well.

3. Recycling and reusing of waste materials will help a great deal and lessen the harm to a greater degree.

Conclusion

As the saying goes Prevention is better than cure, it is better to take steps in creating a safer environment instead of regretting later. India being Agricultural Land, we can take steps to organize programs and educate the farmers and other locals to use natural manure, and make them aware of the problems caused by chemicals used.