Helena Joyce
Pollution has become a significant threat to animals, with human activities causing massive extinctions and destruction to ecosystems. The Earth's ecological system has been in balance for millions of years, but pollution has thrown this delicate balance into disarray. The world's chemical output has increased 500-fold in the last 80 years, contaminating landscapes, accumulating in the bodies of animals and plants, and altering their DNA. Air pollution, caused by industrial emissions, traffic, and commercial activities, has eaten into the ozone layer, altered climatic patterns, and destroyed habitats. Toxic metals, synthetic chemicals, acid rain, and oil are all byproducts of human activity that have detrimental effects on wildlife, entering the food chain and damaging the supply and quality of food. Plastic pollution, in particular, has skyrocketed in recent decades, with about 11 million tonnes of plastic waste entering the ocean each year, harming marine life and contaminating the food chain.
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What You'll Learn
Plastic pollution
Grazing and scavenging animals, such as cows, seagulls, dogs, and camels, regularly eat plastic contaminated with human food. Seabirds that skim the ocean surface while flying, such as albatrosses, cannot differentiate between floating food and litter. Sonar from some animals can confuse plastic for squid and jellyfish. Plastic microbeads resemble fish eggs and are often consumed by jellyfish, egg-eating fish, and filter feeders. This plastic ingestion reduces the storage volume of the stomach, causing starvation as the animals feel full and stop eating. Plastic can also get stuck in their throats, causing suffocation or preventing them from regurgitating to feed their young.
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Air pollution
Acid rain, a product of air pollution, changes the chemistry and quality of soils and water, making water bodies too acidic for some animals to survive. It also increases the release of heavy metals like aluminum and mercury into water habitats, which is toxic to many aquatic organisms, including fish. Other forms of air pollution, such as smog, particulate matter, and ground-level ozone, harm wildlife health, including their lungs and cardiovascular systems.
Additionally, air pollution can alter the migration patterns of animals and cause behavioural changes. For example, it can make birds sing less or force bees to abandon their hives. It also impacts birds directly, as coal power production exhaust damages their respiratory systems.
Overall, air pollution poses a significant threat to animals, disrupting ecosystems and endangering wildlife populations.
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Water pollution
One of the primary ways that water pollution harms animals is by creating breeding grounds for disease-carrying organisms. For example, sewage and agricultural runoff promote the growth of algae, leading to eutrophic "dead zones" where aquatic life cannot survive due to a lack of oxygen. This has a significant impact on fish and other aquatic organisms, causing gill damage, reproductive issues, and even death. Additionally, the toxins produced by certain algae species can accumulate in the bodies of fish and other aquatic organisms, such as seabirds, sea turtles, and aquatic mammals, through a process called bioaccumulation. These toxins can then be passed on to predators, including birds and land animals, threatening entire food chains.
Plastic pollution is another significant threat to aquatic life. Plastic waste in the ocean often attracts other contaminants, and when ingested by marine animals, it releases these contaminants, leading to severe health issues or death. Plastic has proliferated through the food web, affecting a wide range of species, from marine life to birds and land mammals.
The impact of water pollution on wildlife is far-reaching and affects not only aquatic ecosystems but also terrestrial ecosystems that rely on freshwater sources. It is essential that societies and corporations take responsibility and work towards reducing water pollution to protect the health and biodiversity of our planet.
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Persistent organic pollutants
POPs have been widely used throughout the supply chain, in all kinds of products, including pesticides, and industrial processes. They can also be released into the environment unintentionally. For example, sources of pollution from POPs include the improper use and/or disposal of agrochemicals and industrial chemicals, elevated temperatures and combustion processes, and unwanted by-products of industrial processes or combustion. DDT, for instance, was a pesticide that dramatically reduced populations of raptors, such as the bald eagle, in the 1950s and 1960s. It thinned the shells of their eggs, making reproduction impossible. DDT has since been banned in the United States.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which was adopted in 2001 and entered into force in 2004, is a global treaty that aims to safeguard human health and the environment from highly harmful chemicals that persist in the environment and affect the well-being of humans as well as wildlife. The convention requires parties to eliminate and/or reduce POPs, which have the potential to cause devastating effects such as cancer and diminished intelligence. To date, 185 countries have ratified the Stockholm Convention, and 34 POPs are listed, including 17 pesticides, 15 industrial chemicals, and 7 unintentional by-products.
The presence of POPs in the environment is a growing concern. With global chemical sales projected to grow to 6.6 trillion euros by 2030, and new chemicals continuously being released on the market, many of which could eventually become POPs, the threat of POPs is increasing.
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Climate change
Polar bears were the first species listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act due to melting Arctic ice, which reduces their access to habitats and seal hunting ranges. Similarly, the loss of sea ice affects the snowshoe hare, a rabbit species that has evolved to turn white in winter for camouflage.
Birds are also affected by climate change, with changes in precipitation and temperature patterns impacting food availability and breeding timing. Some birds may be forced to relocate to new regions, where they face increased competition for limited resources and encounter new predators.
The effects of climate change on wildlife are expected to worsen unless immediate action is taken to reduce emissions and help ecosystems adapt. Up to 60% of the world's species may face extinction due to climate change. It is crucial to address this issue and implement measures to protect and conserve vulnerable species.
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Frequently asked questions
Air pollution affects animals in two main ways: it reduces the quality of their habitat and food sources, and it directly harms their health. For example, air pollution can cause stunted plant growth, which affects the quality of habitat and food sources for animals. It can also directly harm animals' health by causing lung and cardiovascular issues, disrupting the endocrine function, injuring organs, increasing vulnerability to stresses and diseases, lowering reproductive success, and even causing death.
Plastic pollution has contaminated the oceans, with about 11 million tonnes of plastic waste entering the ocean each year. This has led to the entanglement and ingestion of plastic by marine animals, threatening hundreds of species, including sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals. Plastic pollution also affects terrestrial animals, as microplastics leech into the soil and nearby water sources, leading to a decrease in species that live below the surface and reducing soil fertility.
Water pollution can threaten animals in several ways. For example, harmful algal blooms (HABs) can produce toxins that are dangerous to aquatic life, while nutrient pollution from agricultural sources and wastewater treatment plants can lead to increased HAB occurrences. Additionally, toxic metals such as mercury can accumulate in water, posing a threat to fish and other aquatic organisms. Water pollution can also disrupt the pH levels of water bodies, making them too acidic for some animals to survive or function normally.
