Effects of Air Pollution on Plants

Effects of Air Pollution on Plants: Plants are delicate beings involved in the purification of the environment, enrichment of the soil, releasing oxygen, and removing excess Carbon dioxide. These organisms utilise specialised machinery and cells like chloroplasts to produce their food through photosynthesis.

Effects of Air Pollution On Environment

Introduction to Pollution

• Natural pollutants include volcanic ash, pollen grains, and so on. Pollutants can also be caused by human activities, such as factory runoff or waste. The quality of the air, water, and soil degrade due to pollution.
• As more and more pollutant gets introduced into the environment, their concentration and toxicity slowly increase, and their ability to affect living organisms rises exponentially. When the pollutants in a region increase beyond control, the area becomes inhabitable, and the region's biodiversity gets lost.
• The effects of Pollution are not limited to one species or environment. Plants, animals, and even microorganisms are affected by pollutants because of their ability to hamper metabolic activities. Plants are especially affected by air pollutants, microbes are affected by salt and water pollutants, and animals are affected by all types of pollutants.
• Pollution affects the pre-existing resources and reduces the renewability of these resources by interfering with ecological processes. For instance, excess air pollution reduces the ability of plants to create more oxygen, thereby affecting the air quality even more.

Ecology

Types of Pollution

Air Pollution

• This ty[pe of Pollution reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen in the air which is necessary for the survival of all animals. In the changed environment, animals undergo mutations, their size and lifespan reduce, and several diseases develop.
• The rise in the concentration of Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide forces the temperature of the EWarth to rise by trapping the sunrays normally reflected by Earth’s surface.
• Global warming causes the melting of the polar ice caps, rising sea levels, and increasing the risk of flood and other natural calamities.
• The continuous release of Cluroflurocarbons from Air conditioners, refrigerators, and vehicle coolants damage the Ozone layer in the stratosphere, giving rise to Ozone holes. This hole allows harmful Ultraviolet rays to penetrate the troposphere and spread radiation damage.
• As the Air quality index degrades, the quality of life, especially among humans, also leads to diseases like Asthma, Breathing difficulty, Bronchitis, and much more.

Ecological Succession

Water Pollution

• When the waste materials like sewage and industrial waste, household wastes, plastics, and other pollutants are introduced into water bodies, the ability of water to support life is reduced, leading to Water Pollution.
• Water Pollution affects all life forms because every organism requires water in some form. Plants and animals utilise water for vital processes like Respiration, Transpiration, Nutrient absorption, etc.
• Polluted water carries less dissolved oxygen, minerals, and ions and has high toxicity. These factors make life difficult for organisms living in the water bodies.
• The First indication of Water Pollution is the reduction of the fish population, overgrowth of algae, and change in color and smell and the water body.
• Non-degradable wastes like plastics and E-wastes reach the depths of seas and oceans and remain, therefore, slowly releasing chemicals and mutating the local environment for millions of years.
• Human activities are mainly responsible for water pollution because the waters are directly dumped into water bodies without any filtration to save the cost of purification.

Double Fertilization In Angiosperms

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Soil Pollution

• Although the crop yield and soil quality may seem to increase initially, the concentration of these chemicals keeps rising, eventually making the soil completely lifeless and infertile.
• These pollutants damage the microenvironment of the soil, killing good bacteria, earthworms, and other organisms, which help break down organic matter into nutrient-rich humus.
• In the absence of these nutrients, the large trees fail to grow to their full potential, do not generate enough oxygen, and fail to remove carbon dioxide from the soil. Thus, one pollution leads to another, causing complete catastrophic failure.
• These insecticides and pesticides also get carried away to water bodies, causing water pollution.
• The damage to the trees affects rainfall and weather patterns, and reduces the ability of the roots to hold the topsoil together. This increases the incidences of floods, droughts, and famine, eventually causing loss of human life.

Digestion In Ruminants

Noise Pollution

• It increases irritability, causes damage to the eardrums, and disturbs the balance of microorganisms.
• Plant growth and health are also affected by Noise, and several researchers have indicated that music can promote plant growth while noise can hamper their development.
• Aircraft, vehicles, loudspeakers, and industries are among the leading causes of Noise pollution.

Dog Life Cycle

Causes of Pollution

• Release of harmful gases like sulfur oxides from vehicles like cars and motorcycles.
• Release of harmful gases like Nitrous oxides from aircraft.
• Release of CFCs from Airconditioners and refrigerators.
• Release of smoke from chimneys in industries.
• Release of chemicals from fertilisers and insecticides into water bodies.
• Dumping of industrial effluents into rivers and oceans.
• Release of plastics, metal, and electronic waste into oceans.
• Filling of landfills from household wastes.
• Honking of horns, loud music, and supersonic aircraft leading to noise pollution.
• Deforestation and removal of trees resulting in nutrient and water cycle imbalance.
• Acid raisin due to intermixing of gaseous exhausts with water.

Difference Between Plant Cell And Animal Cell

Effects of Air Pollution on Plants

• Injury to leaves can manifest quickly as necrotic lesions (dead tissue), or it might take longer to occur and manifest as yellowing or chlorosis of the leaf. Different parts of a plant may develop less quickly than usual.
• Ozone effects often manifest as flecking, tanning, or burning of the leaf tissues on the top surface of the susceptible leaves. Although crop loss can happen without any indication of pollution stress, production decreases are typically accompanied by evident foliar damage.
• The major apertures via which Sulphur dioxide penetrates the leaves are the stomata, and the resulting harm can be either acute or chronic. Acute damage is brought on by the comparatively quick absorption of large amounts of sulfur dioxide. The symptoms are two-sided (bifacial) lesions, which often form along the veins and sporadically along the leaf edges. Long-term ingestion of sulfur dioxide at below-lethal amounts results in chronic damage. Leaf chlorosis, or yellowing, and bronzing on the underside of the leaves are among the symptoms in a few rare cases.
• The Flouride injury first appears as a grey or light-green moist lesion that eventually turns reddish-brown. The necrotic regions get larger with extended exposure, extending downward on monocotyledonous leaves and inward to the midrib on wide leaves.
• Complete expression of Ammonia damage, which manifests as irregular, bleached, bifacial, necrotic lesions, often takes several days to develop on damaged plants. Grasses frequently display dark top surface discoloration or reddish, interveinal necrotic streaks. Flowers, fruit, and woody components are often unaffected, and when fruit trees suffer serious damage, regeneration through the growth of new leaves may occur.
• Particulate debris deposited on plants, such as cement dust, magnesium-lime dust, and carbon soot, can obstruct normal respiration and photosynthetic processes. Due to the formation of a thick crust and alkaline toxicity under moist conditions, cement dust may result in chlorosis and the loss of leaf tissue. Additionally, the dust layer may interfere with the typical operation of insecticides and other agricultural agents sprayed on plants. Additionally, the buildup of alkaline dust in the soil can cause the pH to rise to levels that are harmful to crop development.

Land Pollution

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