Abstract
Global population is growing rapidly. As a result, increasingly large areas are being settled and farmed. This devastates soils and causes pollution by heavy metals and other components. Heavy metals in the environment originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Natural sources generally include rock weathering and the propagation of heavy metals, such as Cr and Ni, from ultrabasic rocks. These are natural processes that generally do not threaten human health. Anthropogenic sources include industry and inappropriate disposal of waste in the environment. In such cases concentrations of heavy metals can be harmful to people and other living beings. Al Zintan is a city located in northwestern Libya, on a plateau mainly built up of Cretaceous sediments. Since the 1980?s, nomadic population has rapidly been settling this area. As a result, a former part of the desert was transformed and is used for farming. Soil sampling at Al Zintan was conducted in 2017, across a 2?2 km grid. A total of 143 samples were collected from depths of about 30 cm. The samples weighed 2 to 2.5 kg and generally comprised sand with a clay component. A Niton Xl3t goldd+ instrument was used for chemical analyses, based on which GIS heavy-metal distribution maps were generated. The distribution of Cr, Ni, Cu and Zn is discussed on the paper.
Highlights
One of the primary causes of environmental degradation is attributable to rapid global population growth
The sampling locations were selected keeping in mind: that the distribution of the samples is regular in general and that they cover densely populated areas, sparsely populated areas and farmland
Another consideration pertained to information obtained from Al Zintan Municipality, whether the settlements were old or recent
Summary
One of the primary causes of environmental degradation is attributable to rapid global population growth. Population growth threatens the environment, due to the expansion and intensification of industry and agriculture, uncontrolled urbanization, and overexploitation of natural resources. The primary consequence is environmental pollution in all parts of the city, both urban and rural, as well as in the surrounding desert. A lack of building land has resulted in the city encroaching on farmland, which intensified soil pollution and degradation. Soil contamination is brought about by many different anthropogenic sources of heavy metals, along with other pollutants that affect both agricultural and urban land (ALLOWAY, 2012)
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