The Living Environment



Land Pollution FactsLand pollution is the contamination of the Earth’s land surface and it is a serious problem. Resulting from human activities, land pollution results in an imbalance in nature that exposes the land to harmful chemicals and depletes the quality of soil, one of the Earth’s most important natural resources.Land Pollution FactsAccording the United Nations, the United States disposes more than half of its solid waste in landfills. amounts to over 110 million tons of waste per year and makes the US one of the top contributors to worldwide landfill waste.In 2008, the United States produced more than 250 million tons of municipal solid waste. Most of the waste came from residential homes.According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), electronics waste is rapidly increasing and seriously contributing to land pollution. In 2005, more than 1.5 tons of electronic waste were dumped in landfills.Due to land pollution, the Earth loses approximately 25 billion tons of valuable topsoil each year.It takes at least 500 years for 2.5 centimeters of topsoil to regenerate, and the United States loses soil at a rate 17 times higher than it takes to generate new topsoil.Much land pollution is caused by agricultural activities, like grazing, pesticide spraying, fertilizing, irrigation, confined animal facilities and plowing.Excessive irrigation impacts water and soil quality by concentrating pesticides and harmful bacteria in the top layers of soil.Land-based pollution has threatened 22 percent of the Earth’s coral reefs.Up to 80 percent of land pollution is caused by energy production, food production and transportation.In 2009, more than 20,000 beaches were closed as a result of land pollution.Only one-third of municipal solid waste is recycled in the United States each year.More than one million bushels of garbage are thrown out of car windows by Americans each year.On average, Americans throw out 200,000 tons of edible food each day.Just one American produces nearly 3,500 pounds of hazardous waste every year.More than 80 percent of the items in landfills are fit for recycling.Land pollution can cause skin problems, birth defects, respiratory issues and a number of other diseases. A study published by Cornell University maintains that about 40 percent of deaths in the world are caused by pollution.Drinking water is significantly affected by land pollution. About half the world’s population does not have access to safe drinking water, and water-based diseases cause up to 10 million deaths each year.Each year, Americans add 1.8 billion disposable diapers, 30 billion foam cups and 220 million tires to landfills.10 Water Pollution Facts for the U.S.Over two-thirds of U.S. estuaries and bays are severely degraded because of nitrogen and phosphorous pollution.Water quality reports indicate that 45% of U.S. streams, 47 percent of lakes, and 32 percent of bays are polluted.Forty percent of America’s rivers are too polluted for fishing, swimming or aquatic life. The lakes are even worse -- over 46% are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.Every year almost 25% of U.S. beaches are closed at least once because of water pollution.Americans use over 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides every year, which eventually washes into our rivers and lakes.Over 73 different kinds of pesticides have been found in U.S. groundwater that eventually ends up in our drinking water - unless it is?adequately filtered.The Mississippi River, which drains over 40 percent of the continental U.S., carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico every year. This resulting pollution is the cause of a coastal dead zone the size of Massachusetts every summer.Septic systems are failing all around the country, causing untreated waste materials to flow freely into streams, rivers, and lakes.Over 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, groundwater, and industrial waste are discharged into U.S. waters annually.The 5-minute daily shower most Americans take uses more water than a typical person in a developing country uses in a whole day.10 Water Pollution Facts for Beyond the U.S.Pollution of surface water is a problem for over half of our planet’s population. Each year 250 million documented cases of water-borne diseases are documented, with roughly 5 to 10 million deaths.Fifty percent of worldwide groundwater is unsuitable for drinking because of pollution and only about .007% of the water on earth is accessible for human use.The world water pollution and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war can claim through the use of weapons.Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. Children in polluted environments often carry about 1,000 parasitic worms in their bodies at any time.At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients with water-borne illnesses.Close to 85% of the total area of Bangladesh has contaminated groundwater, and the most dangerous contaminant is arsenic. Thus, 1.2 million people in this nation are exposed to the deadly effects of arsenic-contaminated water.Asian rivers are considered the most polluted in the world. They have three times as many bacteria from human waste as the global average and 20 times more lead than rivers in industrialized countries.In Ireland, about 30% of the rivers are polluted with fertilizers and sewage, which make them too polluted for swimming, fishing, or aquatic life.One of the most polluted rivers in the world is the King River in Australia. Over 1 million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals and other creatures have died from the toxins and acidity in this river.The U.N. estimates that by 2025, forty-eight nations, with combined populations of 2.8 billion, will face freshwater scarcity. ................
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