How Does Land Become Polluted?
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Definition
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Land pollution occurs when the environment has been contaminated. These contaminates are generally human-made, though natural disasters can also cause pollution. Land pollution makes life increasingly unsustainable for living organisms in the environment. It can also affect water and air. When toxic pollutants and substances seep into the ground, it can contaminate oceans, ponds, streams, rivers or any other bodies of water. Toxic pollutants can also contaminate the air through noxious vapors. Four billion tons of topsoil is lost each year due to pollution.
Major Contributors
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Land can be polluted by any number of sources. Some of the major contributors to land pollution include chemical and nuclear plants, industrial factories, oil refineries, human and animal excrement, oil and antifreeze leaks from automobiles, mining, littering, dumps, deforestation and debris from construction sites. Every one of these contributors to land pollution creates a situation in which the environment poses a hazard to animal and plant life.
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Facts
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In order to understand how much land is polluted each year, it is important to review the facts regarding waste that is produced. Each U.S. resident produces 3,285 pounds of hazardous waste yearly. Americans also produce a tremendous amount of disposable waste each year, including 30 billion foam cups, 220 million tires and 1.8 million disposable diapers. A million bushels of litter is also thrown out of cars every day. Every day, 200,000 tons of edible food is discarded. All in all, 80 percent of the trash that is generated in the United States can be recycled, but only 2 percent is.
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