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Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. [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 contaminants.
Air pollution can occur naturally or be caused by human activities. [3] Air pollution causes around 7 or 8 million deaths each year. [4] [5] It is a significant risk factor for a number of pollution-related diseases, including heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and lung cancer.
Levels of air pollution rose during the Industrial Revolution, sparking the first modern environmental laws to be passed in the mid-19th century. The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create ...
noise pollution (environmental noise) - displeasing human or machine created sound that disrupts the activity or happiness of human or animal life. nonpoint source pollution - water pollution affecting a water body from diffuse sources, rather than a point source which discharges to a water body at a single location.
A pollutant or novel entity [1] is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effect, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like oil) or anthropogenic in origin (i.e. manufactured materials or byproducts).
Particulate pollution is pollution of an environment that consists of particles suspended in some medium. There are three primary forms: atmospheric particulate matter, [1] marine debris, [2] and space debris. [3] Some particles are released directly from a specific source, while others form in chemical reactions in the atmosphere.
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. In other words pollution means a sudden change in the environment due to harmful pollutants released to the environment.
Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution refers to diffuse contamination (or pollution) of water or air that does not originate from a single discrete source. This type of pollution is often the cumulative effect of small amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area. It is in contrast to point source pollution which results from a single source.