Impact of Pollution on Biodiversity: Causes, Effects and Solutions

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

1BIODIVERSITY
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

2BIODIVERSITY
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.

3BIODIVERSITY
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