Air Pollution And Water

 Besides water vapor causing harm on humans, air pollution is another factor that can cause serious damage to the people, environment and especially water.

Most people believe that air pollution can not affect the water around us since it's up in the sky and not on the ground. But what they don't know is that some air pollutants are able to reach our water resourses such as lakes, rivers, dams, oceans, ponds, and etc... Some fall as dry particles due to gravity, while other air pollutants fall with rain, snow, or fog, and they can enter a body of water directly, or they can fall onto land and enter indirectly with water run-off (Eastburn 2006). They not only affect the water, but also living organisms that depends on the water for their survival.

According to Eastburn, Nitrogen compounds supply an unnatural amount of nutrients to a body of water, which can cause a rapid increase in the growth of algae. The danger of having a rapid increase of algae can cause clogged waterways and upset the balance of the ecosystem. But the most dangerous is that some algae blooms are toxic and are the base of the food web, which can be transmitted to a wide variety of organisms. Besides the increase of algae, Nitrogen compounds can also contribute to water bodies becoming more acidic (Eastburn 2006).

Approximately 2,700 to 6,000 tons of Mercury are released into the air as gas coming from the Earth's crust and oceans each year, and about 2,000 to 3,000 tons are released each year into the atmosphere by human activities, primarily from burning wastes, and especially from fossil fuels such as coal. (Eastburn 2006). According to Eastburn, mercury is soluble in water, therefore bacteria can cause chemical changes that transform it into methyl mercury, a more toxic form. Methyl mercury can cause fish to eat birds, mammals and humans also. Sea creatures can absorb the mercury, and when caught and cook, the mercury would remain, and if we eat it, it can cause nervous system damage or poising.

As you can see, air pollution not only affects the air, but water along with many organisms that depends on the water. So not only do we need to prevent water pollution, we also need to take care of our air.

Eastburn, Teri. "Air Pollution And Water." Windows2Universe. N.p., 03/01/2006. Web. 18 Apr 2011. <http://www.windows2universe.org/milagro/effects/water_watersheds.html>.