Environmental Pollution: A Global Concern and Its Impact on Plants

Human activities such as urbanization, mining, industrial revolution, and burning of fossil fuels-firewood, along with poor agricultural practices and improper waste disposal, have led to a significant change in the environment’s composition, resulting in environmental pollution. This pollution is categorized into air, water, land, noise, thermal, light, and plastic pollution, each having devastating effects on our ecosystem.

The Consequences of Environmental Pollution on Plants

With the increasing levels of environmental pollution, impurities accumulate in plants, affecting their growth and development. Plants are essential for basic human needs like food, clothing, medicine, and more. Exposure to environmental pollution causes acute or chronic injury to plants, depending on the pollutant concentration, exposure duration, season, and plant species.

Environmental pollution has a profound impact on phenological events, structural patterns, physiological phenomena, biochemical status, and the cellular and molecular features of plants. The global rise of greenhouse gases, including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and ozone, in the atmosphere is a significant threat to biodiversity. These gases have visible impacts on the life cycles and distribution of various plant species.

The Role of Anthropogenic Activities in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Anthropogenic activities, particularly fossil-fuel combustion, are responsible for the steady increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. This phenomenon accelerates global heating, which, in turn, affects plant physiological and metabolic activities, including the formation of biologically active ingredients.

Studies have shown that changes in carbon dioxide concentrations, rainfall, and temperature have greatly influenced plant growth and development. Plants interact with pollutants, causing adverse ecological and economic outcomes. Therefore, understanding plant responses to pollutants is crucial in terms of damage detection, adaptation, tolerance, and physiological and molecular responses.

Emerging Pollutants and Their Impact on Plant Adaptation Strategies

The complex interplay among emerging pollutants, such as radioisotopes, cell-phone radiation, nanoparticles, nanocomposites, and heavy metals, and their impact on plant adaptation strategies, requires further exploration. It is essential to understand the process of pollutant uptake by plants and accumulation in the food chain, as well as the plant resistance capability against various environmental pollutants.

Identifying tolerance mechanisms in plants against pollutants can help in developing eco-friendly technologies, which require molecular approaches to increase plant tolerance to pollutants, such as plant transformation and genetic modifications. Understanding pollutant-induced overproduction of reactive oxygen species that cause DNA damage and apoptosis-related alterations is also vital.

This comprehensive guide provides an in-depth examination of environmental pollution’s impact on plants, exploring the complex relationships between pollutants, plant responses, and ecological outcomes. By understanding these interactions, we can develop innovative solutions to mitigate the effects of environmental pollution and promote sustainable development.

Book Details:

Author: Azamal Husen

Publisher: Elsevier Science

Publication Date: November 4, 2022

Language: English

ISBN: 9780323999786, 9780323983099