How Air Pollution Affects Plants and Animals

 The earth is inhabited by millions of species within the plant and animal worlds. All co-exist and live alongside human beings. Anything in nature that affects humans also affects plants and animals equally, and sometimes in more advanced ways, positively or negatively. One such thing that currently poses a harmful and seriously damaging influence on flora and fauna worldwide is Air Pollution or a very poor Air Quality Index (AQI). 

While humans have evolved technologies, air travel, industrial processes, waste disposal methods, and other infrastructural activities, these have steadily deteriorated air quality to unmanageable levels. While human beings are responsible for the health and other damages due to this, the plants and animals bear the brunt of air pollution for no fault of their own. Some are also on the brink of extinction due to this. It is well-known that if plant and animal species keep vanishing from the face of the earth, the time is not far when the human race’s survival will be threatened too. Thus it is pertinent to understand how air pollution affects plants and animals and take remedial measures. 

 

Air pollution shifts the cycle of the seasons due to increased temperatures; hence, the photo-sensitive and temperature-sensitive processes in them do not happen at the exact times of the year as they have been happening for millions of years. This has shown its ill effects through delayed and poor quality crops, failed harvests, crops more susceptible to infections and infestations by weeds and pests, and mutations in the seed pool. The photosynthesis stomata on leaves also do not open and close in time, which leads to imbalanced absorption and release of moisture content, thus seriously affecting the overall foliage. These are the findings in the report released by the UCAR Centre for Science Education. It says that between 1980 and 2011, nine billion dollars worth of corn and soybean was lost in the US. Similar amounts of damage are reported in poor countries, which suffer badly due to already limited resources. 

 

Other effects of air pollution are causing holes in the atmospheric ozone layer that helps the harmful rays of the sun reach the plants. The suspended ozone layer is also responsible for photosynthesis being disrupted. Air pollution reduces the sunlight on the earth’s surface and adds more nitrogen to the soil. Excess amounts of nitrogen stunt the growth of some plants, especially grasslands that are traditional grazing spaces for livestock.

 

These effects on the plants are also seen on animals. Air pollution directly affects the habitats of animals with reduced vegetation, lack of fruiting and flowering trees, and drop in water levels. The disturbed atmospheric cycles disrupt the migratory patterns of birds, bees, and butterflies. Melting ice covers due to severe air pollution and rising temperatures show shrinking hunting grounds for polar bears, penguins, and sea lions, which once thrived in significant numbers but are now listed among the endangered species. A study by the Government of Canada outlines the effects of air pollution on wild animals. It talks about acid rains, heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) as being responsible for large-scale harm to wild animal populations. This includes toxic water sources that kill fish, make animals unwell, cause endocrine dysfunction and organ injury, and cause reproductive issues in them. Their food sources get depleted as fruits do not grow sufficiently, and disrupted migrations of wilder beasts, zebras, and buffaloes mean that parts of the lions, related species, and crocodile populations die due to hunger. This has become alarming in Africa due to constant droughts and migratory pattern changes. 

 

The domestic animals also get affected by inadequate water and fodder quality, loss of plants that they depend on for fodder, the increased burden of plowing arid lands, and lack of air pollution remedial measures reaching rural hamlets in countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, and Malaysia. The nomadic tribes who depend only on the welfare of their animals have reported a sharp decline in the numbers of off-springs that are born each subsequent year, thus endangering the numbers of lamas, mountain sheep, and some deer. 

 

The above facts worry us enough to wake up to the need to save our plant and animal co-inhabitors on this earth. By tackling air pollution on a war footing, we can keep the species of plants and animals that may be lost forever in a couple of decades, if not earlier. This can be achieved only with the cooperation of the governments, citizens, judiciary, on-ground civil society agencies, NGOs, animal rights activists, and the media. As young crusaders and champions of environmental sustainability, students can contribute by writing opinion pieces, blogs, and articles to raise awareness about this issue. They can also start podcasts, and vlogs, hold information sessions, and make signature appeals to governments and international bodies. Saving our plants and animals is everyone’s responsibility; we should make concerted efforts in this direction.