Soil is an invaluable element of our planet, without which human existence is impossible. The earth provides people with food resources, many animals feed on the gifts of nature grown in the soil. Soil pollution leads to a decrease in its fertility, which in the future threatens a global catastrophe for all life on our planet.
Causes of soil pollution
Let’s be honest, the main source of soil pollution on our planet is man. Quite often, the activities of people are so illiterate that they cause extraordinary damage to the environment. In addition, a huge amount of waste, substances that contain chemical elements enter the ground, which provokes a violation of the biological cycle of soil systems and not only.
The main sources of soil pollution include:
The functioning of public utilities and residential buildings the main problem of the modern world is household waste. Waste includes food residues, building materials and other elements. All garbage is concentrated in landfills, after which, in many cases, it is burned, which leads to clogging of large areas and the ingress of harmful and toxic substances into the soil.
The functioning of industrial enterprises as a result of the activities of any company, a large amount of waste is generated. These can be toxic substances that have a detrimental effect not only on the soil, but also on living beings. Many metallurgical enterprises dump salts of heavy metals, cyanides, arsenic compounds, beryllium, mercury, lead and other hazardous elements that can accumulate both in the soil and in the bodies of people and animals. The key problem of our time is pollution with oil and oil products.
Transport when driving a car, hazardous substances such as nitrogen, lead, hydrocarbons are emitted into the air. With an increase in the number of transport, the level of environmental pollution, including the soil, increases, since all elements enter the soil. There is an acceleration of the erosion process, which affects the fertility of the land (it takes a hundred years to restore this feature). In addition, the construction of roads leads to a decrease in the total area of soils.
Farming in the process of growing products, farmers use pesticides, mineral fertilizers, pesticides, other products containing mercury and heavy metals. The process of soil erosion increases due to plowing of land, which leads to their desertification. Soil salinization is facilitated by regular irrigation.
Disposal of radioactive waste radioactive waste unloaded from the reactors of nuclear power plants is stored in the soil.
Soil pollution is accelerating every year. The condition of the land affects everything around, from food security to the full life of all life on the planet.
Soil protection measures
To save the “health” of our planet, it is necessary to introduce certain measures:
minimize tillage;
alternate planted crops;
fix the soil with the help of the root system of vegetation, form a closed vegetation cover;
plant protective forest belts;
carry out drainage works in order to reduce the level of groundwater.
The soils also need to be washed, observing the irrigation norms, plowed across the slopes and do not use pesticides and other chemical elements.
Basic methods of reclamation
To improve the condition of the soil, it is necessary to prepare land for the restoration of agricultural land, form recreation areas, parks, camp sites, prepare soil for planting forests and carry out sanitary and hygienic measures in areas unsuitable for use.
