Thermal Pollution (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what thermal pollution is, its causes, consequences and examples. Also, other types of pollution.

What is thermal pollution?

When we talk about thermal pollution, we are referring to the artificial alteration of the temperature of the environment in such a way as to be harmful or undesirable for the physical-chemical balance of nature. Generally, this type of pollution is produced by various industrial activities, both directly and indirectly.

Just as there is a chemical balance in nature, there is also a physical one, which involves environmental factors such as temperature. For example, heat facilitates certain chemical reactions, serving as a catalyst, and therefore a sudden and considerable increase in temperature (or a decrease, in the same way) can modify the composition of matter unexpectedly, bringing with it drastic consequences for life such as we know her.

In fact, global warming and its dire consequences on a planetary scale is a perfect example of thermal pollution.

Causes of thermal pollution

The causes of thermal pollution lie in industrial activity for the most part, although certain natural phenomena, such as volcanic activity can also naturally contribute to the radical and violent alteration of the temperature of an ecosystem. But these events are rather rare, sporadic.

Industrial activity, on the other hand, is found daily altering the environmental temperature on a small, medium and large scale. The release of substances into the environment capable of triggering exothermic reactions, or the return of water used with temperatures much colder or much warmer than they initially were, have a continuous local effect, day by day, the consequences of which accumulate over time. over time.

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Consequences of thermal pollution

The consequences of thermal pollution are, in different ways, the alteration of the physical-chemical balance of the environment which brings with it unpredictable effects.

The modification of the chemical composition of matter, due to the continuous injection of heat, e.g. can do it less suitable for local ways of life especially those that are not equipped with mobility (plants, microorganisms) and whose disappearance implies an impoverishment of the region's biodiversity, as well as an imbalance in local food chains.

On a global scale, on the other hand, the thermal imbalance leads to the production of unstable, extreme climates, with frequent catastrophic phenomena which have an important cost not only for the local fauna and flora, but for humanity itself and its economic processes.

Global warming, for example, resulting from the accumulation of carbon gases in the atmosphere, has a widespread impact on sea levels, the duration of climatic seasons and the intensity of hurricane and monsoon seasons.

Examples of thermal pollution

thermal pollution examples — Many industrial activities release greenhouse gases.

Some examples of thermal pollution are the following:

Heat release in thermal power plants. Electricity production plants normally generate large amounts of heat from chemical energy that cannot be converted into electricity. Said excess energy is then released into the environment, usually through the water used to dissipate heat and prevent the plant from overheating. When this liquid returns to nature, it does so with much more heat than it should, and then alters the temperature gradient of the water in the region, causing a decrease in the concentration of oxygen, and therefore, impoverishing life around it.
The release of cold water by liquefying gases. To bring natural gas to a liquid state, large quantities of water are usually used to eliminate heat, and said water is returned to the environment at very low temperatures, altering the temperature gradient of the water in the region. This sudden rise and fall in water temperature makes it less suitable for life.
The release of greenhouse gases. In factories, certain aerosol products, certain refrigerators and other applications in our daily lives, gases with a strong presence of carbon, such as methane, propane or butane, or their derivatives are used or produced after combustion. These gases, upon reaching the atmosphere, prevent the natural release of solar heat retained between the atmosphere and the Earth's surface, since they are much heavier than they should, and thus lead to an increase in global temperature, which gradually melts glaciers and perpetual snow, increasing sea levels, and altering the global climate, making it less predictable and more extreme.

Other types of pollution

Apart from thermal pollution, we can talk about other types of pollution such as:

Radioactive contamination. Product of the circulation of chemically unstable materials or particles, which release subatomic particles in the form of ionizing radiation, causing genetic mutations and irreversible damage to the DNA of the species.
Noise pollution. That which consists of the dispersion in the environment of inharmonious sound waves, or at intensity levels incompatible with life, which especially affects fauna.
Light pollution. It is produced by the excessive incorporation of lights and brightness sources into the environment, affecting the behavior of local species and impoverishing the natural landscape.
Water pollution. Produced when one or several substances that are toxic, harmful or that chemically and significantly alter the properties of the liquid are introduced into natural water deposits and flows, making it harmful to life.
Soil pollution That which is a consequence of the introduction into the soil of toxic or non-natural materials, such as certain types of garbage, and that in the long run impoverish the nutritional capacity of the soil, destroying the plant life of the region.
Air pollution As its name indicates, it consists of releasing gases and suspended solids into the atmosphere, impoverishing the very air that living beings breathe, and causing diseases in those who breathe it.

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