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Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. [ 1] Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring ...
e. Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances called pollutants in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. [ 1] It is also the contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment either by chemical, physical, or biological ...
Ecology portal. v. t. e. Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. [ 1][ 2] Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized by size into micro-, meso-, or macro debris. [ 3] Plastics are ...
Major current environmental issues may include climate change, pollution, environmental degradation, and resource depletion. The conservation movement lobbies for protection of endangered species and protection of any ecologically valuable natural areas, genetically modified foods and global warming. The UN system has adopted international ...
Greenhouse gas emissions. Annual carbon dioxide emissions per person (height of vertical bars) and per country (area of vertical bars) of the fifteen highest-emitting countries [ 1 ] Greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change.
Air pollution, in the form of aerosols, affects the climate on a large scale. [ 46][ 47] Aerosols scatter and absorb solar radiation. From 1961 to 1990, a gradual reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface was observed.
Marine plastic pollution is a type of marine pollution by plastics, ranging in size from large original material such as bottles and bags, down to microplastics formed from the fragmentation of plastic material. Marine debris is mainly discarded human rubbish which floats on, or is suspended in the ocean.
Global dimming is a decline in the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface. [2] [3] It is caused by atmospheric particulate matter, predominantly sulfate aerosols, which are components of air pollution. [4] Global dimming was observed soon after the first systematic measurements of solar irradiance began in the 1950s.