The widespread impacts of soil pollution are visible in the form of growing health problems e.g. lungs, respiratory diseases, skin and different types of cancer are directly or indirectly attributed to soil pollution.
Soil pollution occurs when the presence of toxic chemicals, pollutants or contaminants in the soil is in high enough concentrations to be of risk to plants, wildlife, humans and of course, the soil itself. Arable land is turning to desert and becoming non-arable at ever-increasing rates, due largely in part to global warming and agricultural fertilizers and pesticides, lessening the hope that we can feed our booming population. Within 40 years, there will be over 2 billion more people, which is the equivalent of adding another China and India. Food production will have to increase at least 40% and most of that will have to be grown on the fertile soils that cover just 11% of the global land surface. However, there is little new land that can be brought into production and existing land is being lost and degraded. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization states that annually, 75 billion tons of soil, the equivalent of nearly 10 million hectares, which is about 25 million acres, of arable land is lost to erosion, water-logging and salination and another 20 million hectares is abandoned because its soil quality has been degraded. Contact with contaminated soil may be direct, from using parks, schools etc., or indirect by inhaling soil contaminants which have vaporized or through the consumption of plants or animals that have accumulated large amounts of soil pollutants, and may also result from secondary contamination of water supplies and from deposition of air contaminants.
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Causes of Soil Pollution
The redundant, ever-increasing use of chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers is one of the main factors causing soil pollution by increasing its salinity making it imperfect for crop bearing and adversely affecting the microorganisms present in the soil, causing the soil to lose its fertility and resulting in the loss of minerals present in the soil, thus causing soil pollution and killing off more than just the intended pest. Other types of soil contamination typically arise from radioactive fallout, the rupture of underground storage tanks, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil, unfavorable and harmful irrigation practices, improper septic system and management and maintenance, leakages from sanitary sewage, acid rain falling onto the soil, fuel leakages from automobiles, that get washed away due to rain and seep into the nearby soil and unhealthy waste management techniques, which are characterized by release of sewage into the large dumping grounds and nearby streams or rivers