Land contamination has disastrous repercussions for animal and human survival, as well as soil and water quality. Environmental protection agencies warn that not sorting waste into reusable, recyclable, and organic waste might have disastrous consequences. Since the dawn of industrialization, human emissions have increasingly ruined and degraded soil, causing human and animal diseases and lowering ecosystem and life support capacity. Land contamination has several long-term impacts
1. Health Effects
Most waste collection services are pitiful, especially in underdeveloped countries and slum areas. Others have proper garbage collecting procedures, yet they end up in landfills with no regulation at all.
These wastes contain harmful chemicals, insecticides, and metals. Acrylic, polycarbonate, polyvinyl chloride, & phthalates, for example, are linked to cancer, skin ailments, respiratory disorders, & birth abnormalities in pregnant women.
Toxic chemicals contained in pharmaceutical and pesticide wastes like cadmium, asbestos and mercury can cause serious health problems. They can cause cancer, lung, kidney, and liver damage.
2. More Landfill Sites
Agro-industrial waste contamination increases the number of landfill sites all across city. Landfills can attract disease-carrying mice, rats, flies, and birds. These landfills is contaminated with harmful compounds that can enter the human body through poisoned fruits and vegetables. They can also infiltrate into drinking water or be absorbed by humans through dirty dust. These massive garbage piles across the city cause tourist attention and loss of money for the tourism business.
3. Pollution Of The Soil
Land pollution includes soil pollution. Soil pollution occurs when excessive fertiliser chemicals are used or when lands are deteriorated by chemical & solid waste dumping. Agricultural, healthcare, & chemical wastes are the main sources of soil pollution.
Whether it’s medical trash like broken instruments & metals or industrial product waste such broken electronics, contaminated waste can end up in landfills, harming soils and land ecosystems. Eventually, the ground loses productivity and vegetation.
Foul odours can be detected in the vicinity of landfills and disposal sites. A strong odour has been reported by those living near huge waste sites and landfills. In addition to the stench, landfills are constantly burning, which contributes to the contamination of the atmosphere.
4. Pollution
Land contamination can travel in all directions, affecting the immediate ecosystem. On this premise, it can contaminate and degrade water quality. These pollutants are transported into rivers by surface rain water from landfills and solid wastes.
Simultaneously, leaching occurs, allowing harmful metals and compounds into aquifers & water tables. Also, polluted water evaporates and re-precipitates with contaminants, perpetuating the pollution cycle.
5. Deforestation
Deforestation is the main cause of environmental degradation. It destroys ecosystems and habitats. Deforestation is the destruction of trees and plants, causing extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures and disrupting the rain cycle.
Soil erosion & desertification result. As a result, animals are further away and more exposed to predators. Deforestation affects biodiversity because it disrupts the atmospheric balance.
When the climatic balance is disrupted, we see the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change. Deforestation increases stormwater runoff & leaching. Deforestation deprives towns of tourism cash.
6. Wildlife Impact
Wildlife creatures have suffered greatly in recent decades due to the loss of the natural habitat & surroundings. The ongoing human economic operations on land have gradually damaged and polluted the lands, pushing wildlife to relocate and adapt. As a result, some species has died trying to adjust, some have gone away, and some are threatened.
The discharge of pollutants on includes the ecology undesirable to plants and animals in their food chain. The toxins pollute plants and rivers, which are then eaten by lower forms, and so on up the food chain. It’s called biomagnification and it’s a severe danger to ecological sustainability.
7. Impact on Tourism
Dispersed waste sites within cities generally portray a negative image of the population and their governance. It may merely show environmental apathy. Landfills and waste dumps also pollute the air and risk human health. The loss of tourism earnings might cause a city to lose its appeal to tourists.