Pollution

Pollution

Pollution is a degradation of the environment by the introduction into the air, water or soil of materials that are not naturally present in the environment. It causes a disruption of the ecosystem, the consequences of which may include the migration or extinction of certain species unable to adapt to change. Often due directly or indirectly to human activity, pollution can however result from natural phenomena such as a volcanic or solar eruption.

1.    Types of pollution

Air pollution

There are two types of air pollutants, primary and secondary. Primary pollutants are emitted directly from their source, while secondary pollutants are formed when primary pollutants react in the atmosphere.

Water pollution

Nutrient pollution is caused by wastewater, sewage, and fertilizers. The high levels of nutrients in these sources end up in bodies of water and promote algae and weed growth, which can make the water undrinkable and depleted oxygen causing aquatic organisms to die.

Land and Soil pollution

Land pollution is the destruction of land as a result of human’s activities and the misuse of land resources, while Soil is polluted through leaking underground septic tanks, sewage systems, the leaching of harmful substances from landfill, and direct discharge of waste water by industrial plants into rivers and oceans.

Pollution by type or pollutants

We can list industrial, radioactive, electromagnetic, thermal, light, spatial pollution, noise etc. Noise and light pollution will be discussed.

2.    Causes of pollution

Air pollution

·    The burning of fossil fuels for transportation and electricity produces both primary and secondary pollutants and is one of the biggest sources of air pollution;

·    The fumes from car exhausts contain dangerous gases and particulates including hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide. These gases rise into the atmosphere and react with other atmospheric gases creating even more toxic gases;

·    According to The Earth Institute, the heavy use of fertilizer for agriculture is a major contributor of fine-particulate air pollution. Ammonia is the primary air pollutant that comes from agricultural activities. Other agricultural air pollutants include pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. All of which also contribute to water pollution.

Water pollution

·    Industrial waste is one of the main causes of water pollution, by creating primary and secondary pollutants including sulphur, lead and mercury, nitrates and phosphates, and oil spills;

·    In developing countries around 70% of their solid waste is dumped directly into the ocean or sea. This causes serious problems including the harming and killing of sea creatures, which ultimately affects humans.

Land and Soil pollution

·    Rain and flooding can bring pollutants from other already polluted lands to soil at other locations;

·    Over-farming and over-grazing by agricultural activities causes the soil to lose its nutrient value and structure causing soil degradation, another type of soil pollution;

·    Landfills can leach harmful substances into the soil and water ways and create very bad smells, and breeding grounds for rodents that transmit diseases.

Pollution by type or pollutants

·    Noise pollution is caused by household sources, social events, commercial and industrial activities, and transportation, while light pollution is caused by the prolonged and excessive use of artificial lights at night that can cause health problems in humans and disrupt natural cycles, including wildlife activities;

·    Sources of light pollution include electronic billboards, night sports grounds, street and car lights, city parks, public places, airports, and residential areas.

3.     Effects

Air pollution

·    High levels of air pollution can cause an increased risk of heart attack, wheezing, coughing, and breathing problems, and irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat. It can also cause worsening of existing heart problems, asthma, and other lung complications;

·    Like humans, animals can suffer from a number of health problems due to air pollution, including birth defects, reproductive failure, and diseases;

·    Air pollution causes a number of environmental effects such as climate change in addition to the effects on humans and animals.

Water pollution

·    By far the biggest consequence of water pollution is the death of aquatic creatures, which can disrupt the entire food chain;

·    Nutrient pollution can cause toxic algal blooms in drinking water sources that create toxins that kill fish and other aquatic animals. Direct exposure to this toxic alga causes serious health problems in humans including neurological effects, respiratory problems, stomach and liver illness, and rashes;

·    Bodies of water that are near urbanized areas tend to be heavily polluted by dumbing of garbage and chemicals, both legally and illegally, by industrial plants, health centers, and individuals;

·    Nitrates, caused by fertilizers, also contaminate drinking water and according to the Environmental Protection Agency, babies who consume water that is high in nitrates can become seriously ill with blue-baby syndrome, which causes shortness of breath and blue-tinted skin, and can lead to death if not treated early.

Land and Soil pollution

·    Contaminated land and soil can cause various problems on the skin, respiratory problems, and even different kinds of cancers;

·    Deforestation is the biggest concern when it comes to land degradation and soil erosion. Clear cutting of vegetation and tree cover creates harsh conditions that destroy ecosystems and habitats. Deforestation also creates an imbalance in atmospheric conditions, reducing the amount of carbon that is naturally taken out of the atmosphere. This is a serious problem considering that most pollution created by people is carbon based.

Pollution by type or pollutants

·    Noise pollution can cause stress, anxiety, headaches, irritability, hearing loss, and sleep loss resulting in decreased productivity;

·    Too much light causes eye strain and stress, harming our eyes and decreasing our quality of life. Light pollution also causes a decrease in the hormone melatonin that helps us to fall asleep, resulting in restlessness and fatigue;

·    Many mammals, insects, birds, and reptiles are photoperiodic meaning their movement, mating, growth and development, and eating cycles are regulated by natural light patterns. Light pollution can interfere with these natural behaviours and cycles, causing a decrease in wildlife populations.

Conclusion

Pollution needs to be dramatically reduced because it is destroying the environment we live in, contaminating our food and water, causing diseases and cancers in humans and wildlife, and destroying the air we breathe and the atmosphere that protects us from harmful ultra-violet radiation.

Protecting the environment is a long and daunting task, requiring continuous planning, governmental policies, and public and industrial participation. However the result of ignoring the problem will be catastrophic and life as we know it will begin to end.

By decreasing waste, implementing recycling policies, banning dangerous agricultural chemicals, and developing safe renewable energy we can significantly reduce the amount of pollution going into the environment annually and increase our quality of living.

It is the responsibility of every living person to protect the environment. Everyone is entitled to clean air to breathe, water to drink, and public lands to enjoy.

By Mr. Kamagate Yaya, Intern. Marketing in Sigma Group of Institutes - Vadodara.

Source: https://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/pollution-causes-effects/

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HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is transmitted through body fluids; in particular blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk.

It has been established that transmission takes place in four ways: unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected partner (the most common); blood and blood products through, for example, infected transfusions and organ or tissue transplants, or the use of contaminated injection or other skin-piercing equipment; transmission from infected mother to child in the womb or at birth; and breastfeeding.

HIV is not transmitted by casual physical contact, coughing, sneezing and kissing, by sharing toilet and washing facilities, by using eating utensils or consuming food and beverages handled by someone who has HIV; it is not spread by mosquitoes or other insect bites.

HIV weakens the human body’s immune system, making it difficult to fight infection. A person may live for ten years or more after infection, much of this time without symptoms or sickness, although they can still transmit the infection to others.

Early symptoms of AIDS include: chronic fatigue, diarrhoea, fever, mental changes such as memory loss, weight loss, persistent cough, severe recurrent skin rashes, herpes and mouth infections and swelling of the lymph nodes. Opportunistic diseases such as cancers, meningitis, pneumonia and tuberculosis may also take advantage of the body’s weakened immune system.

Although periods of illness may be interspersed with periods of remission, AIDS is almost always fatal.

Prevention of HIV/AIDS

HIV infection is preventable. HIV is a fragile virus, which can only survive in a limited range of conditions. It can only enter the body through naturally moist places and cannot penetrate unbroken skin. Prevention therefore involves:

·    Ensuring that there is a barrier to the virus, for example condoms or protective equipment such as gloves and masks (where appropriate);

·    Ensuring that skin-piercing equipment is not contaminated.

Prevention can also involve:

·    Informing people about factors which cause HIV/AIDS i.e. the ways of transmission;

·    Promoting awareness and prevention programmes, particularly in the rural zones;

·    changing in behaviour, knowledge, treatment and creating a non-discriminatory environment;

·    Promoting prevention efforts particularly in relation to changing attitudes and behaviours through the provision of information and education.

Management of HIV/AIDS

Solidarity, care and support are critical elements that should guide a society or community in responding to HIV/AIDS. The following actions can be taken to manage HIV/AIDS:

·    Governments should promote care and support through public healthcare programmes, social security systems and/or other relevant government initiatives;

·    Mechanisms should be created to encourage openness, acceptance and support for those who disclose their HIV status and ensure that they are not discriminated against nor stigmatized;

·    People should endeavour to provide counselling and other forms of social support to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS;

·    Health-care services should provide appropriate and affordable treatment. Linkages such as this have the advantage of reaching beyond the sufferers, to cover their families, in particular their children;

·    Partnership between governments, population and other relevant stakeholders also ensures effective delivery of services and saves costs.

Elimination of HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS cannot be eliminated, only some medicines like Antiretroviral drugs are available to slow its progression and prolong life of the sufferers. However, these are very expensive and consequently unavailable to most sufferers. But the situation is changing rapidly because research is currently going on into vaccines even if none is viable as yet. The virus is killed by bleach, strong detergents and very hot water.

Conclusion

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is now a global crisis and constitutes one of the most formidable challenges to development and social progress. In the most affected countries, the epidemic is eroding decades of development gains, undermining economies, threatening security and destabilizing societies. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the epidemic has already had a devastating impact, the crisis has created a state of emergency.

Beyond the suffering it imposes on individuals and their families, the epidemic is profoundly affecting the social and economic fabric of societies.

HIV/AIDS is affecting fundamental Human rights, particularly with respect to discrimination and stigmatization aimed at people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. The epidemic and its impact strike hardest at vulnerable groups including women and children, thereby increasing existing gender inequalities and exacerbating the problem of child labour.

By Mr. Kamagate Yaya, Intern. Marketing in Sigma Group of Institutes -Vadodara.

Source: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---ilo_aids/documents/publication/wcms_113783.pdf

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Stop violence against women

Stop violence against women!!!

Non-violence consists of rejecting all types of violence. There are many types of violence such as physical violence, Sexual violence, Spiritual violence, etc. Many articles have been written on non-violence. Here we focus on one of the phenomena in our actual society i.e. the violence against women.

The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women provides the following definition:

“The term violence against women means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life”.

The violence suffered by women comes largely from men. the most common cases are domestic violence, family violence, early marriages and forced marriages and sexual assault.

Women or girls are neglected, marginalized, often beaten and even rejected.

Violence against women is one of the biggest human rights violations in the world. Although considered as a serious human rights violation in most countries and punished by their jurisdictions, violence against women does not falter and is a crucial social issue because of its complexity.

Main cause: Many causes can be considered to explain the violence against women. The first and the most important is the nature of human being. Naturally, people think that men are superior to women, boys are superior to girls. Thus, the woman must serve the man, she must lower herself, not engage in a contradictory debate with the man.

Also, this vision is shared by many cultures and religions making the problem more complex when we know that people's attachment to their cultures and religions. Therefore, it is legitimate for a man to use violence against a woman.

Some solutions: the best solution to end violence against women and girls is to prevent it from its roots.

·    Start early in life the prevention;

·    Educate young boys and girls;

·    Promote respectful relationships between boys and girls;

·    Awareness of abandoning devaluing cultures for women.

As solutions, we can also mention:

·    Awareness of men, who are the first to be called into question;

·    Do not leave the fight to women only; men should also appropriate the fight;

·    Implicate all, namely the decision makers, for the strict application of the laws against the authors of these ignoble acts which leave a psychic impact on the life of the victims;

·    Strengthen laws on violence against women;

·    Promote gender equality;

·    Encourage woman empowerment.

We can and we have to change things because women who suffer to give life and often lose theirs by giving it, the source of life must be respected and valued; they don’t deserve these atrocities.

All together, let say stop violence against women!!!

By Mr. Kamagate Yaya, Intern. Marketing in Sigma Group of Institutes -Vadodara.

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Child Labour

“Child Labour according to International Labour Organization (ILO) is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development”.

Child labour is one of the main scourges in our actual society. Over the world children or adolescents are maltreated, are sold as slaves, are forced to work and exposed to serious hazards. Child labour is a global concern because it affects all countries. Therefore, it deserves special attention, not only because of its globalization but also because of the people impacted i.e. children; the future of any nation. This is a brief summary of some important aspects of the phenomenon.

The worst forms of child labour: they include slavery, use in armed conflict, prostitution, production of pornography, waste sorting, narcotics trafficking etc., and any other work which, by its nature or the conditions in which it is achieved, can harm the safety, morals or health of children.     

                                                                                                                                                

Causes of child labour: several factors can be considered to explain the child labour. The following are the most important.

·    Poverty: it is considered as the main reason for parents to send their children to work to support the whole family. The more the families are financially sufficient, the less their children are exposed to this scourge.  It is the same poverty that prevents some parents from schooling their children, abandoning them in the streets or even selling them.

·    Flaws of the education system: low literacy rates, high tuition fees, lack of educational infrastructure, are all obstacles to education and aggravating factors to child labour.

·    Natural disaster and / or conflict: they provoke humanitarian crises, with its share of migrants, displaced persons and orphans of wars, which favour the vulnerability of children and the transgression of the legislations in force. Therefore, these children may end up without a birth certificate, thus not being able to prove their identity and age in the face of illegal exploitation.

·    Ignorance of parents: parents are unaware of the harmful effects of work on children, the positive impact of education, and the child labour laws in effect.

Causes of child labour are many and vary from one country to another according to the requirement of the employers. Children are a "cheap" workforce. They are not very demanding and easy to manage, creating a real interest of employers.

Consequences of child labour: if the world is standing up against child labour, it is because of its negative impact on children and on the entire society. some are listed below.

·    Education: when working, children cannot follow normal school program. They are deprived of their freedom to choose their future. Out of school, they are abandoned to themselves, can fall into drug use and banditry, becoming a threat to society.

·    Violence: physical, moral, mental and social abuse or sexual exploitation, children are vulnerable and exposed to multiple forms of violence in the workplace.

·    Health: Working conditions can have repercussions on children's health: they can be injured with tools that are inappropriate for their age, suffer the consequences of handling toxic substances, carry heavy loads that hinder their physical development. Moreover, the sexual violence of which they may be victims is the source of early pregnancy and contraction of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV / AIDS.

Some proposals: many solutions can be suggested. Below some important ones are listed.

·    Fight against poverty: poverty being considered as the main factor of the scourge, the implementation of programs to fight against poverty in areas such as education, health, nutrition etc. would contribute to a drastic reduction in the phenomenon of child labour.

·    Awareness: sensitize and inform parents and children about the risks of child labour.

·    Improvement of education system: create the necessary conditions for the schooling of all children.

·    Laws in force: a strict enforcement and strengthening of existing laws for better protection of children.

·    Reintegration: a reintegration program for children who are victims must also be considered.

The issue of child labour remains both crucial and complex. Children, the future of society, are deprived of their freedom to choose their future and to participate efficiently to the development of their countries. Thus, child labour becomes a barrier to the economic and social development of communities and countries. we must quickly act to eradicate this scourge and solutions are not lacking but a greater willingness of the decision-makers could accelerate its eradication.

By Mr. Kamagate Yaya, Intern. Marketing in Sigma Group of Institutes -Vadodara.

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Cancer awareness

Cancer awareness

“Cancer according to World Health Organization (WHO) is a generic term for a large group of diseases characterized by the growth of abnormal cells beyond their usual boundaries that can then invade adjoining parts of the body and/or spread to other organs. Other common terms used are malignant tumors and neoplasms. Cancer can affect almost any part of the body and has many anatomic and molecular sub types that each require specific management strategies”.

Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach and liver cancer are the most common types of cancer in men, while breast, colorectal, lung, cervix and thyroid cancer are the most common among women. Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and is estimated to account for 9.6 million death in 2018. Cancer is therefore one of the deadliest diseases in the world.

Cancer causes or risk factors: A risk factor is a substance or condition that increases the risk of cancer. Very few cancers are caused by only one element. Most appear to be caused by a complex set of many risk factors, but sometimes cancer occurs in people who have no risk factors. Cancer risk factors can play different roles in cancer appearance and development. Examples of cancer risk factors include:

·     to smoke;

·    to drink alcohol;

·    to be in contact with harmful chemicals at home or at work;

·    to be infected with certain types of infections;

·    to carry certain genetic changes;

·    to get old;

·    the overweight or obese;

·    not to protect yourself from the sun;

·    not to have a healthy diet;

·    not to do enough physical activity.

Risk of cancer: the risk of cancer is the probability of being a cancer patient. Being informed about cancer risk can help you make informed choices about your health. In general, the more often and longer you are in contact with a risk factor, the higher the risk of getting cancer. Many years of exposure to a risk factor can occur before the cancer appears. Cancer usually appears as a result of exposure to many risk factors over time. You may be in contact with several risk factors during your daily activities. There are people who are more likely to have cancer because of certain risk factors. Even if a person has one or more risk factors, it is impossible to know exactly how much these factors may contribute to the future development of cancer. High risk does not mean that you will necessarily have cancer. Even people who are at low risk may have cancer. A low risk does not mean that cancer will not appear: it means that it is less likely that a person will be affected. It is not always clear why one person has cancer, and another is not.

Cancer risk assessment: Risk assessment is the study of information about an individual such as age, health history, family history, and lifestyle and diet choices to determine cancer risk. People often worry about their personal risk of getting cancer. Knowing your risk factors can help you make personal health choices that will reduce your risk of having certain cancers. Physicians use a variety of assessment tools to estimate a person's cancer risk. Your doctor may recommend genetic testing and genetic counselling if you think your risk may be higher than normal because of a family cancer syndrome or a family history of cancer. Understanding your cancer risk can also help you decide if it would be beneficial for you to:

·    start a screening program at a younger age or be screened more often than the general population or

·    have surgery or take medication to help reduce your risk of cancer.

Cancer is delicate to treat or manage and whose treatments are extremely expensive when they are available, that's why experts opt for prevention to reduce the risk factors.

According to current evidence, between 30% and 50% of cancer deaths could be prevented by modifying or avoiding key risk factors, including avoiding tobacco products, reducing alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy body weight, exercising regularly and addressing infection-related risk factors.

To reduce the significant disability, suffering and deaths caused by cancer worldwide, effective and affordable programmes in early diagnosis, screening, treatment, and palliative care are needed. Treatment options may include surgery, medicines and/or radiotherapy; treatment planning should be guided by tumour type, stage and available resources and informed by the preference of the patient. Palliative care, which focuses on improving the quality of life of patients and their families, is an essential components of cancer care. Accelerated action is needed to improve cancer care, achieve global targets to reduce deaths from cancer and provide health care for all consistent with universal health coverage.

By Mr. Kamagate Yaya, Intern. Marketing in Sigma Group of Institutes - Vadodara.

Sources:

1.    https://www.who.int/health-topics/cancer#tab=tab_3

2.https://www.cancer.ca/fr-ca/cancer-information/cancer-101/what-causes-cancer/?region=qc

Exploring The Potentials

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