"Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change."
The release of harmful substances or products into the environment, including air, water, and soil pollution.
Types of Pollution: The different forms and sources of pollution, such as air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, noise pollution, and light pollution.
Environmental Health Impacts: The harmful impacts that pollution has on human health and the environment, including disease, developmental delays, and ecosystem destruction.
Sustainable Development: A holistic approach to development that balances economic, social and environmental factors in order to preserve the planet’s resources for future generations.
Environmental Policy: Legislation, regulations and administrative guidelines that aim to prevent, control or mitigate pollution, and encourage sustainable practices.
Clean Technology: Development of new technologies, products and processes that reduce waste, save energy, and minimize pollution.
Green Energy: Renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and geothermal that provide clean energy alternatives to traditional polluting energy sources.
Environmental Justice: Concerns about the disproportionate environmental burden borne by marginalized communities, often low-income, and racial and ethnic minorities.
Conservation: Wildlife conservation and habitat protection to preserve threatened species and ecosystems and prevent environmental destruction.
Recycling: The process of converting waste materials into new materials and products.
Public Education: Education and awareness-raising campaigns to help people understand the causes and effects of pollution and the actions they can take to reduce its impact.
Air pollution: Refers to the presence of harmful gases and particles in the air that can cause respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, acid rain, smog, and climate change.
Water pollution: Refers to the contamination of water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and underground aquifers, with harmful substances like sewage, chemicals, pesticides, and oil spills. It can lead to the destruction of aquatic ecosystems and harm human health.
Soil pollution: Refers to the contamination of soil with harmful substances like industrial waste, pesticides, radioactive waste, and heavy metals. It can harm the health of plants and animals, and reduce soil fertility.
Noise pollution: Refers to excessive noise levels that can cause hearing loss, stress, and sleep disturbance. Sources of noise pollution include traffic, industrial machinery, and loud music.
Light pollution: Refers to the excessive use of artificial light that can cause negative impacts on human health, animal behavior, and atmospheric conditions.
Thermal pollution: Refers to the rise in temperature of water bodies due to the discharge of heated water from factories or power plants. It can harm aquatic life and disrupt ecosystems.
Radioactive pollution: Refers to the presence of radioactive substances in the environment that can cause genetic mutations, cancer, and other health problems. It is caused by nuclear accidents, nuclear weapons testing, and improper disposal of radioactive waste.
Visual pollution: Refers to visual clutter caused by billboards, litter, and other man-made structures that disrupt the natural beauty of landscapes.
Plastic pollution: Refers to the accumulation of plastic waste in the environment, including land, water bodies, and oceans. It can harm wildlife and cause environmental degradation.
Agricultural pollution: Refers to the contamination of soil, water, and air by agricultural practices such as the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals. It can harm human health and the environment.
Thermal inversion: Refers to the trapping of pollutants close to the ground, leading to the formation of smog and other air pollution problems.
Greenhouse gas pollution: Refers to the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere, leading to climate change and global warming.
"Major forms of pollution include air pollution, light pollution, litter, noise pollution, plastic pollution, soil contamination, radioactive contamination, thermal pollution, visual pollution, and water pollution."
"Pollutants can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants."
"Sources created by human activities, such as manufacturing, extractive industries, poor waste management, transportation, or agriculture."
"Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution."
"Many sources of pollution were unregulated parts of industrialization during the 19th and 20th centuries until the emergence of environmental regulation and pollution policy in the later half of the 20th century."
"In 2019, pollution killed nine million people worldwide (one in six deaths), a number unchanged since 2015."
"Air pollution accounted for 3⁄4 of these earlier deaths."
"A 2022 literature review found that levels of anthropogenic chemical pollution have exceeded planetary boundaries and now threaten entire ecosystems around the world."
"Pollutants frequently have outsized impacts on vulnerable populations, such as children and the elderly, and marginalized communities."
"Polluting industries and toxic waste sites tend to be collocated with populations with less economic and political power."
"This outsized impact is a core reason for the formation of the environmental justice movement."
"The outsized impact on marginalized communities continues to be a core element of environmental conflicts."
"Local, country, and international policy have increasingly sought to regulate pollutants, resulting in increasing air and water quality standards, alongside regulation of specific waste streams."
"Regional and national policy is typically supervised by environmental agencies or ministries."
"International efforts are coordinated by the UN Environmental Program and other treaty bodies."
"Pollution mitigation is an important part of all of the Sustainable Development Goals."
"In 2019, pollution killed nine million people worldwide (one in six deaths)."
"Air pollution accounted for 3⁄4 of these earlier deaths."
"A number unchanged since 2015."