Urban Pollution: A Study on Causes, Effects, and Potential Solutions

This report explores the multifaceted issue of urban pollution, examining its causes, effects, and potential solutions. The primary focus is on the UK context, highlighting key contributors such as automobile emissions from fossil fuels, power generation from coal-fired plants, and inadequate waste management in rapidly growing urban areas. The report delves into the adverse impacts of pollution, including compromised air quality, leading to respiratory disorders, and the detrimental effects on flora, fauna, and soil quality due to acid rain. The report emphasizes the significance of pollution's impact on human health and the environment, further offering insights into the significance of waste management and its effects on groundwater quality. The report concludes by referencing the World Health Organization (WHO) for background information on urban outdoor air pollution.

ESSAY
URBAN POLLUTION
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There are various causes of urban pollution prevalent in the UK. One of the key ones is the
use of automobiles which are run based on conventional fossil fuels. The emissions of these
automobiles do not lead to carbon dioxide based pollution but also contains other harmful
gases such as nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide along with suspended particle matter (SPM).
Another key reason contributing to urban pollution is the generation of electricity especially
when the power plants are coal fired. Such plants lead to sulphur dioxide emissions besides
other pollutants such as carbon monoxide and SPM. Pollution in urban areas may also be
caused on account of poor waste management especially as the urban population
continuously increase which given rise to the incidence of slums. Further, different kinds of
pollution such as noise, air & water may also be caused by various industries that may be
located in urban areas. The effect of urban pollution is further exaggerated owing to the
reducing green cover (WHO, n.d.).
One of the key effects of pollution is the poor air quality which leads to higher incidence of
respiratory disorders in humans. Further, this also has adverse impact on the health of flora
and fauna. Also, nitrogen and sulphur based oxides can lead to acid rain which is harmful for
living beings and has adverse impact on agriculture as the soil quality may be deteriorated.
Poor waste management may have adverse impact on the ground water quality which leads to
higher incidence of water based diseases (WHO, n.d.).
References
WHO (n..d), Background information on urban outdoor air pollution, [online] Available at
https://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/background_information/en/
[Accessed December 15, 2019]