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Growing evidence that air pollution—even when experienced at very low levels—hurts human health, led the WHO to revise its guideline (from 10 μg/m 3 to 5 μg/m 3) for what it considers a safe level of exposure of particulate pollution, bringing most of the world—97.3 percent of the global population—into the unsafe zone.
Human activities affect marine life and marine habitats through overfishing, habitat loss, the introduction of invasive species, ocean pollution, ocean acidification and ocean warming. These impact marine ecosystems and food webs and may result in consequences as yet unrecognised for the biodiversity and continuation of marine life forms. [3]
Animal agriculture is a cause of harmful particulate matter pollution in the atmosphere. This type of production chain produces byproducts; endotoxin, hydrogen sulfide , ammonia, and particulate matter (PM), such as dust, [ 60 ] [ 61 ] all of which can negatively impact human respiratory health. [ 62 ]
Sources of water pollution are either point sources or non-point sources. [155] Point sources have one identifiable cause, such as a storm drain, a wastewater treatment plant or an oil spill. Non-point sources are more diffuse. An example is agricultural runoff. [156] Pollution is the result of the cumulative effect over time.
[28] [29] [30] One well known example of a species affected is the polar bear, whose habitat in the Arctic is threatened. [31] Algae can also be affected when it grows on the underside of sea ice. [32] Warm-water coral reefs are very sensitive to global warming and ocean acidification. Coral reefs provide a habitat for thousands of species.
Noise pollution can also affect foraging behaviour in marine animals, which results in less effective strategies. Porpoises have been found to make fewer prey capture attempts, dive deeper, and cut their foraging behaviour short when a vessel passes by, which results in a higher energy expenditure. [ 16 ]
While marine pollution can be obvious, as with the marine debris shown above, it is often the pollutants that cannot be seen that cause most harm.. Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial, agricultural and residential waste, particles, noise, excess carbon dioxide or invasive organisms enter the ocean and cause harmful effects there.
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 ...