Answer:

Industrial pollution is one of the MAIN causes of pollution worldwide. Apart from health hazards, water pollution due to discharge of contaminated water and global WARMING are some of the harmful effects of industrial pollution. Industry accounts for more than half the volume of all water pollution and for the most deadly pollutants. Some 370,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States of America alone use huge quantities of freshwater to carry away wastes of many kinds. The waste-bearing water, or effluent, is discharged into streams, lakes, or oceans, which in turn disperse the polluting substances. In its National Water Quality Inventory, reported to Congress in 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that approximately 40% of the nation’s surveyed lakes, rivers, and estuaries were too polluted for such basic uses as drinking supply, fishing, and swimming. The pollutants include grit, asbestos, phosphates and nitrates, mercury, lead, caustic soda and other sodium compounds, sulfur and sulfuric acid, oils and petrochemicals.(Sell, 1992)

In addition, numerous manufacturing plants pour off undiluted corrosives, poisons, and other noxious byproducts. The construction industry discharges slurries of gypsum, cement, abrasives, metals, and poisonous solvents. Another pervasive group of contaminants entering food chains is the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, components of lubricants, plastic wrappers, and adhesives. In yet another instance of pollution, HOT water discharged by factories and power plants cause thermal pollution by increasing water temperatures. This increase changes the level of oxygen dissolved in a body of water, thereby disrupting the water’s ecological balance, killing off some plant and animal species while encouraging the overgrowth of others.

Global warming is one of the most common and serious consequences of industrial pollution. The emission of various greenhouse gases such as CO2, methane (CH4), among others from various industries, increases the overall temperature of the earth, resulting in global warming. Global warming has various serious hazards, both on the environment as well as on human health. It results in melting of glaciers and snow-capped MOUNTAINS, causing an increase of the water levels in seas and rivers, thereby increasing the chances of flood. Apart from this, global warming also has numerous health risks on humans, such as increase of diseases such as malaria and dengue, cholera, Lyme disease and plague, among others.(Freeman, 1995)

Industrial pollution, as stated above, is one of the major causes of air pollution. With the increase in the number of industries and factories due to the industrial revolution; air pollution also has increased significantly. The EMISSIONS from various industries contain large amounts of gases such as carbon dioxide, sulphur and nitrogen, among others. These gases, when present in elevated levels in the atmosphere, often result in various environmental and health hazards such as acid rain, and various skin disorders in individuals.(Freeman, 1995)