The Ecological Effect of Agriculture: Environment Problems and Their Solution

Agriculture:

The ecological effect of agriculture is the impact that diverse cultivating rehearses have on the biological systems around them, and how those impacts can be followed back to those practices. The natural effect of agribusiness shifts dependent on the wide assortment of agrarian practices utilized far and wide. At last, the natural effect relies upon the creative practices of the framework utilized by ranchers. The association between emanations into the earth and the cultivating framework is roundabout, as it likewise relies upon other atmosphere factors, for example, precipitation and temperature. Some different components can incorporate sorts of apparatus utilized for agriculture purposes just as the rancher's decision of how they handle their animals.

Pollution:

Pollution is the process of making land, water, air, or other parts of the environment dirty and not safe or suitable to use. This can be done through the introduction of a contaminant into a natural environment, but the contaminant doesn't need to be tangible. Things as simple as light, sound, and temperature can be considered pollutants when introduced artificially into an environment. Pollution is defined as the contamination of air, water, or soil by materials that interfere with human health, the quality of life, or the natural functioning of ecosystems. Air pollution is the pollution of the atmosphere by emissions from industrial plants, incinerators, internal combustion engines, and other sources.

Pollutants can be classified as either primary or secondary. Primary pollutants are substances directly produced by a process, such as ash from a volcanic eruption or the carbon monoxide gas from a motor vehicle exhaust.

Secondary pollutants are not emitted. Rather, they form in the air when primary pollutants react or interact. An important example of a secondary pollutant is ozone-one of the many secondary pollutants that make up photochemical smog.

Solid Waste:

Solid waste damps are seriously spoiling the environmental conditions in developing countries. Negative environmental impacts from improper solid waste dumping can be easily observed everywhere in the developing world.

Energy Resources:

Developing renewable energy technologies that exploit the sun, the wind, and geothermal energy is critical to addressing concerns about climate change and some environmental issues. However, using renewable sources will not eliminate all environmental concerns. Although renewable energy sources produce relatively low levels of GHG emissions and conventional air pollution, manufacturing and transporting them will produce some emissions and pollutants. The production of some photovoltaic (PV) cells, for instance, generates toxic substances that may contaminate water resources. Renewable energy installations can also disrupt land use and wildlife habitat and some technologies consume significant quantities of water.

Impacts of Agricultural Practices:

Negative Effects of agriculture:

Environmental is described as an external medium where humans, animals, and plants triple live together. The environment consists from two pieces human hand-made and natural environments. Environment pollution occurred by irregular urbanization and unconscious industry and applications. Also the balance between humans and the natural environment where humans live breaks. The main reasons of environmental pollution are irregular and rapid industry, urbanization, organic and inorganic wastes that are left in the environment, unintended usage of agricultural lands, and wrong agricultural applications. Erroneous using of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, irrigation, tillage, and plant hormone applications are some of the wrong applications. Also, stubble burning, planting without rotation, and inappropriate animal waste are assumed as mistakes. Pesticides that are used to eliminate of harmful insects, microorganisms, and other pests which they mix with soil, water, air, and food, they cause to problems on the agricultural foods and affect both human health and natural balance so finally, they become an environmental problem. The fertilizer which is used to improve plant growth, more and qualified product and some features of soil like physical, chemical and biological structure cause to environmental pollution in case of excessive or wrong usage. Irrigation has big importance to high agricultural yield and quality in arid and semi-arid regions. Wrong irrigations cause to environmental problems. Rising of groundwater, salinity, fertilizers and chemical additives residues go to deep with irrigation water, trace elements collect in water sources and cause to soil erosion and these kinds of waters make disease and harmful on the whole living organisms so this type of waters are a very important environmental problem. Wrong soil tillage with regards of without any concern field location, soil structure, and climate conditions cause to soil moving with rain, in other words, cause erosion. This situation not only causes to inefficient soils, it also pollutes streams and fills up dams with soil, etc. serious environmental problems. As intensive agricultural technical common, the yield per area also increased. With regards of increased product, total stem and hay value also have increased, but stem and hay using area decreased rapidly. This situation made it faster to stubble burning at developed countries. For elimination of stem, hay, and especially secondary product applied in agricultural areas; stubble is burned to prepare seed sowing. But it is clear that stubble burning cause to very important environmental problems. Animal production has caused many changes in kinds of industry sectors. These changes put forth a large scale of concerns about the impacts of animal wastes on the environment. In great business’ animal husbandry especially poultries causes to negative effects on the environment because of manure, urine, and animal and animal products processing wastes. These organic wastes contaminate to soil and stream beside dust, gas, and smell effects on the environment. Animal wastes play an important role in environmental pollution.

Positive effects of agriculture:

As agriculture has negative effects on the environment it also has positive effects. For instance, some regions that have commonly agricultural applications have various favorable environmental effects kind of natural life, oxygen production, and climate depending on regions and ecology. As an example, although fertilizing has negative effects on air, it has indirect positive effects. In the fertilized fields, O2 is consisted by photosynthesis so it increases the amount of O2 in the atmosphere. So cereal production areas constitute 12 ton of oxygen in per 1 ha area. Oxygen production in an agricultural area is more than in forests and empty areas. In these areas, the poison of the air decreases depending on CO2 reception.

Impacts of Pollution:

Air pollution causes a number of environmental effects in addition to the effects on humans and animals. Air Pollution is the most prominent and dangerous form of pollution. It occurs due to many reasons. Excessive burning of fuel which is a necessity of our daily lives for cooking, driving, and other industrial activities; releases a huge amount of chemical substances in the air every day; these pollute the air. The release of sulfur dioxide and other hazardous gases into the air causes global warming and acid rain; which in turn have increased temperatures, erratic rains, and droughts worldwide; making it tough for the animals to survive. Water Pollution has taken a toll of all the surviving species of the earth. Almost 60% of the species live in water bodies. It occurs due to several factors; the industrial wastes dumped into the rivers and other water bodies cause an imbalance in the water leading to its severe contamination and death of aquatic species. Also spraying insecticides, and pesticides like DDT on plants pollutes the groundwater system and oil spills in the oceans have caused irreparable damage to the water bodies. Water pollution not only harms the aquatic beings but it also contaminates the entire food chain by severely affecting humans dependent on these. Soil pollution occurs due to the incorporation of unwanted chemicals in the soil due to human activities. The use of insecticides and pesticides absorbs the nitrogen compounds from the soil making it unfit for plants to derive nutrition from. Radioactive pollution is highly dangerous when it occurs. It can occur due to nuclear plant malfunctions, improper nuclear waste disposal, accidents, etc. Thermal/heat pollution is due to the excess heat in the environment creating unwanted changes over long time periods; due to the huge number of industrial plants, deforestation, and air pollution. It increases the earth’s temperature, causing drastic climatic changes and the extinction of wildlife. The environment is the first casualty for the increase in pollution weather in air or water. The increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere leads to smog which can restrict sunlight from reaching the earth. Thus, preventing plants in the process of photosynthesis. Gases like Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide can cause acid rain. Water pollution in terms of the oil spill may lead to the death of several wildlife species.

Impacts of Fossil Fuel:

Costs accrue at every point of the fossil fuel supply chain. Extraction processes can generate air and water pollution, and harm local communities. Transporting fuels from the mine or well can cause air pollution and lead to serious accidents and spills. When the fuels are burned, they emit toxins and global warming emissions. Even the waste products are hazardous to public health and the environment. The main reason why fossil fuels cause so much damage is due to the amount of carbon dioxide or CO2 emitted when fossil fuels are burned. This burning and release of CO2 is a huge contributor to the greenhouse effect and climate change. More CO2 in our atmosphere causes less sunlight to escape back into space, causing the planet to warm. When fossil fuels are burned, CO2 isn't the only gas released. Other harmful gases can be nitrogen and sulfur oxides. Burning fossil fuels causes air pollution and smog. Acid rain is also caused by the burning of fossil fuels. While technology has improved considerably in the US, we used to see high instances of acid rain around industrial areas where lots of fossil fuels were being burned. This is still the case in areas where air quality is not as regulated.

Another reason why fossil fuels are bad for the environment has to do with the ways they are extracted or removed from the earth. Drilling and mining for coal, natural gas, and oil all involve disrupting the natural landscape to access these materials.

Impacts of solid waste:

A common source of local environmental pollution is the decomposition of waste into constituent chemicals. The gas released by decomposing garbage is a major environmental concern. Methane is the by-product of the anaerobic respiration of bacteria, and these bacteria thrive in landfills with high amounts of moisture. At maximum anaerobic decomposition, the methane concentration can reach up to 50% of the composition of landfill gas.

Another problem associated with these gases is their contribution to the enhanced climate change and greenhouse gas effect. There is a variation of the liquid leachate management throughout the landfills of the developing world. A threat is posed by the leachate to local surface and groundwater systems. The optimum strategy to contain excess liquid is the use of dense clay deposits at the bottom of waste pits, coupled with plastic sheeting-type liners to avoid infiltration into the surrounding soil. So, in this way, the waste rather than infiltration is encouraged to evaporate.

Research institutes:

The objectives of the environmental research institute are to develop a world in which people are aware of and concerned about the environment and the problems associated with it, and committed to working individually as well as collectively towards solutions of current problems and prevention of future problems. They acquire the skills for identifying and solving environmental problems and participating in the improvement and protection of the environment.

Conclusion and suggestions for a healthy environment

Agriculture:

Wrong agricultural practices cause to environmental pollution in important dimensions. In other words, agricultural technical especially modern technology could make environmental pollution in the event unless humans would sensitive. For this reason, humanity developed a new perspective to decrease the negative effects of agriculture. Sustainable agriculture which is a new agricultural technique seems environmentally friendly and it is supported by developed countries. Environmentally friendly agriculture has three common applications. These are good agricultural practices, organic agriculture, and precision agriculture. Also rotation, sowing of legumes that are able to nitrogen fixation, and fallowing reduce the negative effect of agriculture on climate change. Biotechnology can play a major role in helping farmers overcome challenges such as protecting crops against insects, weeds, and disease, as well as battling vagaries of the weather. Farmers growing biotech crops have been able to make use of no- or reduced-tillage systems that use weed control rather than plowing. Apart from saving fuel and cutting emissions, this helps improve soil health and water retention by reducing runoff and not inverting the soil, so allowing moisture to be trapped. It also permits more efficient carbon storage in the soil.

Pollution:

In order to protect from noise pollution, the open markets, bazaars, recreation, and amusement facilities, schools, and parks inside the city should be surrounded by trees and other plants, which will not be unorthodox to the architectural body of the city. The industrial districts and plants should be surrounded by green areas.

The most basic solution of air pollution is to move away from fossil fuels, replacing them with alternative energies like solar, wind, and geothermal. Producing clean energy is crucial. But equally important is to reduce are consumption of energy by adopting responsible habits and using more efficient devices. Also, shifting to electric and hydrogen vehicles and promoting shared mobility (i.e. carpooling and public transport) could reduce air pollution.

For water pollution we can:

• Conserve water by turning off the tap when running water is not necessary. This helps prevent water shortages and reduces the amount of contaminated water that needs treatment.
• Be careful about what you throw down your sink or toilet. Don’t throw paints, oils or other forms of litter down the drain. Use environmentally household products, such as washing powder, household cleaning agents, and toiletries.
• Take great care not to overuse pesticides and fertilizers. This will prevent runoffs of the material into nearby water sources.
• By having more plants in your garden you are preventing fertilizer, pesticides, and contaminated water from running off into nearby water sources.
• Don’t throw litter into rivers, lakes, or oceans. Help clean up any litter you see on beaches or in rivers and lakes, make sure it is safe to collect the litter, and put it in a nearby dustbin.

In case of land pollution- Trees also take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the main contributor to global warming, an increase in global temperatures that are driving major changes in climate including flooding, droughts, wildfires, and other natural disasters. Without trees, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will increase.

Reforestation is one way to control the effects of deforestation. 'Re' means again, which means reforestation is planting new trees to replace those removed by deforestation. Sometimes reforestation can be accomplished naturally if the area is protected from further pollution. Existing trees produce seeds that under the right conditions can regenerate the forest. However, some areas are so heavily damaged by deforestation that scientists must come in and plant seeds by hand or bring in young trees native to the area to plant.

Solid waste management:

Reusing the waste is directly related to generating less of it. For example, instead of throwing them away, you can still use your shopping bags. The same goes with relish and condiment jars, which can be used for storing items in your workshop. Consumers should pay for the volume of garbage that they generate and nothing or a minimal fee for recycling. The goal is to provide a financial incentive for recycling while reducing waste. It should also be ensured that manufacturers are responsible for the safe disposal and recycling of their products post-consumption. Also, buying products made from recycled or recyclable materials ensures the continuum of the recycling process by creating sustainable markets for goods.

Energy Resource conservation:

All-day we use electricity. Charging our phones, using our computers, and turning on the lights all use electricity. Where does that electricity come from? For most of us, the answer is from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels, like coal, oil, and gas, are major sources of land pollution. Mines and drilling operations to collect these sources of fuel ruin the land around them, stripping valuable nutrients, destroying topsoil, and disrupting local ecosystems. But clearly, electricity is a major part of our modern world, so what are we supposed to do?

One answer is alternative energy. Alternative energy sources don't rely on fossil fuels and are renewable, meaning they can be regenerated, unlike fossil fuels which get used up. Examples of alternative energy include solar, wind, and hydroelectric power.

Solar panels collect light energy from the Sun and convert it into electrical energy. Solar energy is plentiful and free to collect. There is no transportation of fuels needed and no waste generated, thus creating far less land pollution than fossil fuels. However, solar panels do take up space, particularly for the large solar farms needed to provide substantial amounts of energy. This can disrupt local wildlife in forested areas, so solar panels are well suited for sunny areas with little plant life, such as arid regions.

Wind power harnesses the mechanical energy of wind and converts it into electrical energy we can use in our homes. Wind turbines produce no pollution and have an unlimited supply of power from wind currents, making them an excellent choice to reduce land pollution.