Chapter 16
Pollution
Short Answer Questions
Question 1
What is environmental pollution? What is a pollutant?
Answer
Environmental pollution refers to any unfavourable alteration of our surroundings, wholly or
largely as a byproduct of man's actions. These changes may affect man and other organisms.
Pollutants are the products which are released into the biosphere in large quantities and which
affect the normal functioning of ecosystems and have an adverse effect on plants, animals and
man.
Question 2
Give the difference between natural and man-made pollutants.
Answer
Natural pollutants Man-made pollutants
The natural pollutants are produced as a result of Man-made pollutants are produced as a result
natural phenomena. of human activities.
Example: Example:
Volcanic eruptions and wild fires. Industrial pollution and vehicular emissions.
Question 3
What is air pollution? Give a source of air pollution.
Answer
Air pollution is the excessive concentration of foreign matter in the air which adversely affects
the well being of human beings, animals, plants and their environment.
Fumes released by automobiles like cars, scooters etc are one of the causes of air pollution.
Question 4
Define water pollution.
Answer
Water pollution can be defined as alteration in physical, chemical or biological characteristics of
water, making it unsuitable for designated use in its natural state.
Question 5
What is soil pollution? Why should we avoid soil pollution?
Answer
Soil pollution is defined as the change in physical, chemical and biological conditions of the soil
through man's intervention resulting in degradation in quality and productivity of the soil.
We should avoid soil pollution because of the following reasons-
1. The pollutants enter the food chain at the plant level and get magnified as we move up
the food chain.
2. The pollutants remain in the soil for relatively longer periods.
Question 6
What is radioactive pollution?
Answer
Radioactive pollution is defined as the increase in natural background radiation, emerging from
the activities of man using naturally occurring or artificially produced radioactive materials.
Question 7
What is noise pollution?
Answer
Noise pollution is defined as an unwanted sound that is an irritant and a source of stress.
Structured Questions
Question 1(a)
What are man-made causes of radioactive pollution? Why is radioactive pollution more harmful
than other types of pollution?
Answer
There are mainly two man-made causes of radioactive pollution:
1. Nuclear fuels used in atomic reactor — There are two types of waste formed in a Nuclear
Reactor which cause pollution:
i. The fission products remaining in both the primary and secondary fuels.
ii. Waste products in the coolant.
2. Nuclear Weapons — Development and testing of Nuclear weapons creates risk of
leakage of radioactive radiations in the environment. The atom bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused huge destruction and had an enormous impact on the
environment till decades later.
Radioactive pollution is more harmful than other types of pollution because the high level
products of nuclear wastes remain in the environment for several hundred years. Leakage in
nuclear reactors causes environmental pollution and the leakage may result in the death of a
number of people.
Question 1(b)
How is noise a source of pollution? Why do we need to look at the problem of noise pollution
seriously?
Answer
Noise is a physical form of pollution which is not directly harmful to the life supporting systems.
It is not fatal to human life, yet its effects cannot be overlooked because repeated exposure to
noise reduces the sleeping hours, productivity or efficiency of a human being and it affects the
peace of mind and invades the privacy of a human being.
Question 1(c)
Give a geographical reason for each of the following:
(i) Music is relaxing but playing it loud is a source of pollution.
(ii) Secondary pollutants are toxic.
(iii) Pesticides are qualitative pollutants.
Answer
(i) Music is relaxing when played at low volume. However, loud music becomes noise and
adversely affects a person. Repeated exposure to loud music reduces the sleeping hours,
productivity or efficiency of a human being and it affects the peace of mind and invades the
privacy of a human being. Hence, loud music becomes unpleasant and is a source of Noise
pollution.
(ii) Secondary pollutants are formed from the chemical reaction of primary pollutants in the
environment. These pollutants react in the presence of sunlight, water vapour, or other chemicals
to form new substances which are often more harmful and toxic than the original pollutants.
(iii) This is because pesticides are toxic chemicals created by humans to aid in agriculture. They
alter the quality of the environment by introducing harmful chemicals that were not originally
present.
Question 1(d)
List the main sources of pollution of ocean waters.
Answer
The main sources of pollution of ocean waters are — oil, plastic, industrial and agricultural
waste, chemical particles and waste from mining for materials such as copper and gold.