Impact of Pollution on Biodiversity: Causes, Effects and Solutions

This study analyses the impact of pollution on biodiversity, including depletion of the ozone layer, acid rain, climate change, pollution due to mining, and industrial pollution. The study discusses the threats to biodiversity, including overexploitation of natural resources, loss of habitat and habitat degradation, and industrial pollution. The study also suggests mechanisms to control pollution.

Running head: BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity
Name of the Author:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Purpose of the Study........................................................................................................................3
Method.............................................................................................................................................3
Results..............................................................................................................................................4
Depletion of the ozone layer........................................................................................................4
Acid rain......................................................................................................................................4
Climate change............................................................................................................................5
Pollution due it mining and how it affected the biodiversity.......................................................5
Effect of industrial pollution on the soil microbes......................................................................7
Discussion........................................................................................................................................7
Over exploitation of natural resources.........................................................................................7
Loss of habitat and habitat degradation.......................................................................................8
Industrial pollution.......................................................................................................................8
Mechanism to control pollution...................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
Reference.......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Biodiversity can be defined as the foundation which provides the ecosystem services and
with it the ecosystem services are intricately linked. Thus, biodiversity is actually the wide
ranging variability that exists within the marine, terrestrial, and the ecological complexes.
Biodiversity includes the both types of the ecosystems (unmanaged and the managed) (Cardinale
et al., 2012). While it is important to note that pollution poses as a serious threat for the
biodiversity and specifically the aspects of nutrient loading. Nutrients like phosphorous and
nitrogen majorly contribute to the ecosystem dysfunction. Biodiversity is also negatively
impacted by air pollution, ground level ozone, nitrogen emission, sulphur which affects the
health of the living beings and it ability to grow and function. Emissions of both nitrogen dioxide
and sulphur dioxide gets deposited in water sources and affects the fauna and flora. Acidification
negatively impacts the ecosystems services like the nutrient cycling and thus it affects the living
organisms that are intricately linked with the biodiversity. The pollution at the ground level is
related to the increased levels of ground level ozone and it impacts the cell membranes of the
plants and animals. This inhibits the vital process of development and growth. Eutrophication is
the accumulation of the nitrogen and other nutrients in water bodies. The high levels of pollution
affect the human populations due to the increased concentration (Pearce & Moran, 2013). This
study will be based on the pollution, how it increases over time and has affected the biodiversity.
The research question of the study emphasizes on how has the pollution harmed the biodiversity
over the past century and what are the probable solutions.

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Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to analyse how pollution has increased over time and how it
has impacted the biodiversity. The research question of the study: How has the pollution harmed
the biodiversity over the past century and what are the probable solutions?
The significance of the issues can be described by the seriousness of the issue relating to
the increased effect of pollution on the biodiversity. It is important to highlight that majority of
the pollution has occurred due to the anthropogenic activities and this has negatively impacted
the environment. This is turn has affected the health of the living organisms, the populations of
the living organisms directly get affected due to the increased and elevated levels of pollution in
the atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. Air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution all
affect the biodiversity of the living organisms that are living in a particular biome (Pilgrim et al.,
2013). Pollution hinders the proper growth and development of the organisms along with the
reduction in the number of the living organisms. The levels of the pollution have increased to a
great extent due to the altered climate and weather patterns. The climate of the earth has altered
due to the increased amount of human interference along with the increased air pollution. The
rising levels of air pollution has caused changes in the patterns of the weather and climate. This
in turn has deteriorated the niche and reduced the percentage of the habitats of the animals and
plants (Bellard et al., 2012).
Method
The problem here is to analyse how the rising levels of pollution has affected the
biodiversity. The methodology selected for this study is a systematic analysis by searching the
literature or peer reviewed journals over the various online journal hosting sites. Google scholar,
Elsevier, Taylor Francis is used to search the articles on the impact of biodiversity due to the

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rising levels of pollution. The keywords used in sorting the search are: impact on biodiversity
due to pollution, rising levels of pollution. The research is conducted qualitatively and only a few
journal is selected for the study.
Results
Depletion of the ozone layer
The atmosphere is divided into two different layers: the lower layer is the troposphere
and the upper layer is the stratosphere. The upper layer of stratosphere is the ozonosphere which
inhibits the entry of the harmful ultraviolet radiation into the atmosphere. However, majority of
the anthropogenic activities has resulted into the destruction of the ozone layer in the
stratosphere. The chemicals that were once used in the aerosol propellants, pesticides and air
conditioners like the chlorofluorocarbons has and other substances like the halocarbons that are
potent ozone depleting substances. The destruction of the ozone layer leads to the increased
amount of entry of ultraviolet rays which reaches the ground. The harmful radiations cause harm
to the marine algae, damage crops and cancer in people through the sunburns. Although it is
important to note that the ozone depleting substances have been phased out and alternative
chemicals are used instead (Grafton, 2012).
Acid rain
Air pollution has also led to the development of the acid rain and it causes pollution of
the environment because acid rain contains the sulphuric acid and nitric acid. This air pollution is
caused due to the burning of the fossil fuels and the generation of power from the power plants.
These power plants burn the fossil fuels that later contributes to the development of the acid rain.
Acid ran affects the streams and lakes and the organisms (insects, snails, clams, plants,
amphibians and fish) that reside within it. These organisms find it extremely difficult to survive

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in the acidic conditions. It is also important to mention that fish eggs cannot hatch when pH is
very low (less than 5). While insects, snails, clams and adult fishes die even when the pH level
increases and thus a fewer option is left for the predators. Acid rain also potentially damages the
leaves of the trees, which indirectly slows down the growth of the leaves making the soil toxic
for the growth of the plants (Lv et al., 2014).
Climate change
Global warming or climate change has both directly and indirectly affected the
biodiversity. A wide range of altered climatic events and weather events has been noticed that
has threatened the habitat of the species and have contributed positively to the reduction of the
species through habitat destruction. Previously, earth’s temperature has changed slowly and earth
has experienced both the warmer period and the ice ages. These changes have occurred for
thousands of years; however, the changes now are associated with the anthropogenic activities of
climate change. The anthropogenic activities have resulted into an accelerated level of change in
climate and it is faster than the natural process. Since the industrial revolution during the year of
1850, there has been an increased number of fossil fuel (natural gas, oil and coal) burning.
Burning of the fossil fuel has resulted into an increased amount of release of carbon dioxide in to
the atmosphere. This has contributed to the greenhouse effect and this means that the earth will
much warmer than it used to be in the past (Pawson et al., 2013).
Pollution due it mining and how it affected the biodiversity
Mercury is a potential pollutant which is released into the environment during from the
activities of gold mining. The activities pose as a risk for the ecosystem and also for human
health. A study by Palacios-Torres, Caballero-Gallardo and Olivero-Verbel (2018), was carried
out which assessed the levels of the mercury in the sediments, fish, air, and human air. This

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study also determined a consumption of fish and the accumulation of mercury in to a region
called the Choco biogeographic region. This region is also designated to be a global biodiversity
hotspot which is located in the Columbian Pacific. The concentration of mercury in hair was
measured within the people that reside near the riverine places. The levels of mercury in the
fishes in the Atrato river was found to be above the limit set by WHO (0.5microgram/gram). In
general, the sampling data revealed that there is widespread pollution of mercury in the
Biogeographic region of Choco. The major issue posed by the mercury pollution is the release of
mercury in to the environment and it leads to health problems among the humans. However, in
several countries which has large amounts of natural resources, the economic aspects come
before concerns of saving the environment and the biodiversity. Similarly, in countries like
Columbia extraction of gold supports country’s economy and a big portion of the mining is
informal and the territory under mining has many sensitive ecological areas. If the pollution level
from mercury is high then there might be threat to the living organisms, water bodies and forests
(Sippl, 2015). The reason for such a concern because Columbia hosts areas of high species
richness, hotspot areas, and several megadiverse areas. while it has been highlighted in the study
that the Choco region is one of the complex ecosystem in the planet because it consists of the
176 beetles, 206 mammals, 196 freshwater fishes, 139 amphibians, 188 reptiles, 793 birds, 4584
different species of spermatophytes. In spite of immense potential of Choco, the uncontrolled
gold mining has resulted into loss of the biodiversity, loss of the forest cover which is causing
the elimination of the world genome banks. While these problems have wide ranging effects as it
disturbs the environmental balance and it is lot more complex (Driscoll et al., 2013).

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Effect of industrial pollution on the soil microbes
A study was conducted by Hafez and Elbestawy (2009), highlighted that the
environmental pollution has negatively affected the ecosystem organization. It affects the
ecosystem organization and the availability of the resources. It is important to note that the soil
biodiversity is affected by pollution and this later results into biological invasions, endangering
the floras and faunas bringing changes into microbial function and diversity. Among all the
industrial pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and common groundwater contaminants
are considered to be highly carcinogenic for the soil microbes. Metal speciation along with the
toxicity and biological availability are controlled by the physico-chemical properties of a specific
environment. Thus, it is seen that the mixtures of the heavy metals are responsible for the
affecting the populations of the microorganisms. It has been found that the certain heavy metals
like copper and zinc are essential at the low concentration, while exert toxic effects due to higher
concentrations. While it has been seen that lead is toxic even at the lower concentrations. Certain
features of the soil microorganisms like the soil enzyme activity, soil respiration rate and
biomass size are used as the bio indicators of the soil toxicity with the heavy metals (Chibuike &
Obiora, 2014).
Discussion
Threats to the biodiversity arises due to many factors and many of these factors are
indirectly or directly linked with the industrial sector. The most prominent threats to the
biodiversity are as follows:
Over exploitation of natural resources
Natural resources serve as a raw material for the industrial sector and mining of the raw
materials puts extra pressure on the environment. Over exploitation of the natural resources leads

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to the threats to the biodiversity since the minerals, petroleum and coal are buried deep within
the crust of the earth and the under the areas of forests. Thus, removing the natural resources
often require removal of the forests which causes massive amount of the disturbances to the
biodiversity and wildlife (Dong et al., 2014).
Loss of habitat and habitat degradation
The different types of the forests are the habitats of the wild animals and plants. The
destruction of the forests due to activities like the cutting of trees to obtain the raw materials,
construction of dams, mining activities leads to the destruction of the habitat and biodiversity.
Thus, it results into a reduction in diversity and subsequently acts as a threat to the biodiversity.
While it is also important to note that the industrial development requires the construction of
railway tracks, roads and due to this forest area are broken down into multiple fragments. This
hinders the movement of the wild animals in the forest areas and often face the threats of
roadkill. Thus, the phenomenon of fragmentation is also known as habitat destruction (Haddad et
al., 2015).
Industrial pollution
The industrial sector manufactures the non-biodegradable substances and pollutants that
do not degrade in nature. It is important to highlight that these substances enter into the food
chain of the different animals and starts to accumulate as toxins. The animals that are located on
the higher categories of the food chain has the higher accumulation of toxin into their body and
starts to die. This phenomenon of the accumulation of toxin into the body, food chain and trophic
level is called the biomagnification. Industries releases pollutants in the form of waste products
that are non-biodegradable toxins. The final products or the finished products also interfere with

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the food chain and it leads to the global, local extinction of species and reduction of biodiversity
(Valipour et al., 2012).
Another highlighting impact of the industrial pollution on the biodiversity is the industrial
melanism. When the industrial revolution began in European nations, there were mainly the light
coloured moths months that were mainly found on the light coloured trees. The light coloured
moths used to have light coloured wing patterns and this pattern. However, with the advent of
industrial revolution trees started to get cover with black soot and due to this the population of
light coloured moths reduced drastically. Later on the dark coloured moths (with dark coloured
wings) were found on the trees that were covered with black soot (Heliovaara, 2018).
Mechanism to control pollution
Environmental taxes are also known as ecotax, pollution tax and green tax. This is aimed
towards the reduction of pollution and it includes a wide array of legislative charges on the
private individuals, businesses for the reduction of damage on the environment. Industrial
pollution tax can be used to levy tax from the emission of carbon contained in the fossil fuels in
any industrial facility. Incentivised taxation is another measure of rewarding both the domestic
and industrial spheres. This taxation system will reward the industries entities that employs
practices directed towards the reduction of pollution (de Vries & Hanley, 2016).
Tradeable pollution permit are the rights to buy and sell the potential or actual pollution
in markets that are artificially created. Government raises funds by selling the reserved pollution
permits and the revenue can be used to clean up the environment. Firms and industries receive
the benefits and incentives so that they can invest the clean technology. Also, firms are able to
use their excess of permits for the future use (Low, 2016).

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Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that, pollution has occurred due to the
anthropogenic activities and this has negatively impacted the environment. This is turn has
affected the health of the living organisms, the populations of the living organisms directly get
affected due to the increased and elevated levels of pollution in the atmosphere, biosphere and
hydrosphere. Air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution all affect the biodiversity of the
living organisms that are living in a particular biome. Pollution hinders the proper growth and
development of the organisms along with the reduction in the number of the living organisms.
Biodiversity is also negatively impacted by air pollution, ground level ozone, nitrogen emission,
sulphur which affects the health of the living beings and it ability to grow and function.
Emissions of both nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide gets deposited in water sources and
affects the fauna and flora. Acidification negatively impacts the ecosystems services like the
nutrient cycling and thus it affects the living organisms that are intricately linked with the
biodiversity.

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