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Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment.
These harmful materials are called pollutants.

GRADES
5-8

SUBJECTS
Biology, Ecology, Health, Earth Science, Geography

1/14

P H OTO G R A P H
 Landfill
Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment.
Landfills collect garbage and other land pollution in a central location. Many
places are running out of space for landfills.

P H OTO G R A P H BY D E N N I S F I N L E Y

A RT I C L E VO C A B U L A RY

Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment.

These harmful materials are called pollutants. Pollutants can be natural, such
as volcanic ash. They can also be created by human activity, such as trash or
runoff produced by factories. Pollutants damage the quality of air, water,
and land.

Many things that are useful to people produce pollution. Cars spew
pollutants from their exhaust pipes. Burning coal to create electricity
pollutes the air. Industries and homes generate garbage and sewage that
can pollute the land and water. Pesticides—chemical poisons used to kill
weeds and insects—seep into waterways and harm wildlife.

All living things—from one-celled microbes to blue whales—depend on

Earth’s supply of air and water. When these resources are polluted, all forms
of life are threatened.

Pollution is a global problem. Although urban areas are usually more

polluted than the countryside, pollution can spread to remote places where
no people live. For example, pesticides and other chemicals have been
found in the Antarctic ice sheet. In the middle of the northern Pacific Ocean,
a huge collection of microscopic plastic particles forms what is known as the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Air and water currents carry pollution. Ocean currents and migrating fish
carry marine pollutants far and wide. Winds can pick up radioactive material
accidentally released from a nuclear reactor and scatter it around the world.
Smoke from a factory in one country drifts into another country.

In the past, visitors to Big Bend National Park in the U.S. state of Texas could
see 290 kilometers (180 miles) across the vast landscape. Now, coal-burning
power plants in Texas and the neighboring state of Chihuahua, Mexico have
spewed so much pollution into the air that visitors to Big Bend can
sometimes see only 50 kilometers (30 miles).

The three major types of pollution are air pollution, water pollution, and
land pollution.

Air Pollution
Sometimes, air pollution is visible. A person can see dark smoke pour from
the exhaust pipes of large trucks or factories, for example. More often,
however, air pollution is invisible.

Polluted air can be dangerous, even if the pollutants are invisible. It can
make people’s eyes burn and make them have difficulty breathing. It can
also increase the risk of lung cancer.
Sometimes, air pollution kills quickly. In 1984, an accident at a pesticide
plant in Bhopal, India, released a deadly gas into the air. At least 8,000
people died within days. Hundreds of thousands more were permanently
injured.

Natural disasters can also cause air pollution to increase quickly. When
volcanoes erupt, they eject volcanic ash and gases into the atmosphere.
Volcanic ash can discolor the sky for months. After the eruption of the
Indonesian volcano of Krakatoa in 1883, ash darkened the sky around the
world. The dimmer sky caused fewer crops to be harvested as far away as
Europe and North America. For years, meteorologists tracked what was
known as the “equatorial smoke stream.” In fact, this smoke stream was a
jet stream, a wind high in Earth’s atmosphere that Krakatoa’s air pollution
made visible.

Volcanic gases, such as sulfur dioxide, can kill nearby residents and make
the soil infertile for years. Mount Vesuvius, a volcano in Italy, famously
erupted in 79, killing hundreds of residents of the nearby towns of Pompeii
and Herculaneum. Most victims of Vesuvius were not killed by lava or
landslides caused by the eruption. They were choked, or asphyxiated, by
deadly volcanic gases.

In 1986, a toxic cloud developed over Lake Nyos, Cameroon. Lake Nyos sits
in the crater of a volcano. Though the volcano did not erupt, it did eject
volcanic gases into the lake. The heated gases passed through the water of
the lake and collected as a cloud that descended the slopes of the volcano
and into nearby valleys. As the toxic cloud moved across the landscape, it
killed birds and other organisms in their natural habitat. This air pollution
also killed thousands of cattle and as many as 1,700 people.

Most air pollution is not natural, however. It comes from burning fossil fuels
—coal, oil, and natural gas. When gasoline is burned to power cars and
trucks, it produces carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless gas. The gas is
harmful in high concentrations, or amounts. City traffic produces highly
concentrated carbon monoxide.

Cars and factories produce other common pollutants, including

nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrocarbons. These chemicals react
with sunlight to produce smog, a thick fog or haze of air pollution. The
smog is so thick in Linfen, China, that people can seldom see the sun. Smog
can be brown or grayish blue, depending on which pollutants are in it.

Smog makes breathing difficult, especially for children and older adults.
Some cities that suffer from extreme smog issue air pollution warnings. The
government of Hong Kong, for example, will warn people not to go outside
or engage in strenuous physical activity (such as running or swimming)
when smog is very thick.

When air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide mix with
moisture, they change into acids. They then fall back to earth as acid rain.
Wind often carries acid rain far from the pollution source. Pollutants
produced by factories and power plants in Spain can fall as acid rain in
Norway.
Acid rain can kill all the trees in a forest. It can also devastate lakes, streams,
and other waterways. When lakes become acidic, fish can’t survive. In
Sweden, acid rain created thousands of “dead lakes,” where fish no longer
live.

Acid rain also wears away marble and other kinds of stone. It has erased the
words on gravestones and damaged many historic buildings and
monuments. The Taj Mahal, in Agra, India, was once gleaming white. Years
of exposure to acid rain has left it pale.

Governments have tried to prevent acid rain by limiting the amount of

pollutants released into the air. In Europe and North America, they have had
some success, but acid rain remains a major problem in the
developing world, especially Asia.

Greenhouse gases are another source of air pollution. Greenhouse gases

such as carbon dioxide and methane occur naturally in the atmosphere. In
fact, they are necessary for life on Earth. They absorb sunlight reflected
from Earth, preventing it from escaping into space. By trapping heat in the
atmosphere, they keep Earth warm enough for people to live. This is called
the greenhouse effect.

But human activities such as burning fossil fuels and destroying forests have
increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This has
increased the greenhouse effect, and average temperatures across the
globe are rising. The decade that began in the year 2000 was the warmest
on record. This increase in worldwide average temperatures, caused in part
by human activity, is called global warming.
Global warming is causing ice sheets and glaciers to melt. The melting ice is
causing sea levels to rise at a rate of two millimeters (0.09 inches) per year.
The rising seas will eventually flood low-lying coastal regions. Entire
nations, such as the islands of Maldives, are threatened by this
climate change.

Global warming also contributes to the phenomenon of ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification is the process of ocean waters absorbing more carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere. Fewer organisms can survive in warmer, less
salty waters. The ocean food web is threatened as plants and animals such
as coral fail to adapt to more acidic oceans.

Scientists have predicted that global warming will cause an increase in

severe storms. It will also cause more droughts in some regions and more
flooding in others.

The change in average temperatures is already shrinking some habitats, the

regions where plants and animals naturally live. Polar bears hunt seals from
sea ice in the Arctic. The melting ice is forcing polar bears to travel farther
to find food, and their numbers are shrinking.

People and governments can respond quickly and effectively to reduce air
pollution. Chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are a dangerous
form of air pollution that governments worked to reduce in the 1980s and
1990s. CFCs are found in gases that cool refrigerators, in foam products, and
in aerosol cans.
CFCs damage the ozone layer, a region in Earth’s upper atmosphere. The
ozone layer protects Earth by absorbing much of the sun’s harmful
ultraviolet radiation. When people are exposed to more ultraviolet
radiation, they are more likely to develop skin cancer, eye diseases, and
other illnesses.

In the 1980s, scientists noticed that the ozone layer over Antarctica was
thinning. This is often called the “ozone hole.” No one lives permanently in
Antarctica. But Australia, the home of more than 22 million people, lies at
the edge of the hole. In the 1990s, the Australian government began an
effort to warn people of the dangers of too much sun. Many countries,
including the United States, now severely limit the production of CFCs.

Water Pollution
Some polluted water looks muddy, smells bad, and has garbage floating in
it. Some polluted water looks clean, but is filled with harmful chemicals you
can’t see or smell.

Polluted water is unsafe for drinking and swimming. Some people who drink
polluted water are exposed to hazardous chemicals that may make them
sick years later. Others consume bacteria and other tiny aquatic organisms
that cause disease. The United Nations estimates that 4,000 children die
every day from drinking dirty water.

Sometimes, polluted water harms people indirectly. They get sick because
the fish that live in polluted water are unsafe to eat. They have too many
pollutants in their flesh.
There are some natural sources of water pollution. Oil and natural gas, for
example, can leak into oceans and lakes from natural underground sources.
These sites are called petroleum seeps. The world’s largest petroleum seep
is the Coal Oil Point Seep, off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The
Coal Oil Point Seep releases so much oil that tar balls wash up on nearby
beaches. Tar balls are small, sticky pieces of pollution that eventually
decompose in the ocean.

Human activity also contributes to water pollution. Chemicals and oils from
factories are sometimes dumped or seep into waterways. These chemicals
are called runoff. Chemicals in runoff can create a toxic environment for
aquatic life. Runoff can also help create a fertile environment for
cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae. Cyanobacteria reproduce
rapidly, creating a harmful algal bloom (HAB). Harmful algal blooms prevent
organisms such as plants and fish from living in the ocean. They are
associated with “dead zones” in the world’s lakes and rivers, places where
little life exists below surface water.

Mining and drilling can also contribute to water pollution.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a major contributor to pollution of rivers and
streams near coal mines. Acid helps miners remove coal from the
surrounding rocks. The acid is washed into streams and rivers, where it
reacts with rocks and sand. It releases chemical sulfur from the rocks and
sand, creating a river rich in sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is toxic to plants, fish,
and other aquatic organisms. Sulfuric acid is also toxic to people, making
rivers polluted by AMD dangerous sources of water for drinking and
hygiene.
Oil spills are another source of water pollution. In April 2010, the
Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing oil to
gush from the ocean floor. In the following months, hundreds of millions of
gallons of oil spewed into the gulf waters. The spill produced large plumes
of oil under the sea and an oil slick on the surface as large as 24,000 square
kilometers (9,100 square miles). The oil slick coated wetlands in the U.S.
states of Louisiana and Mississippi, killing marsh plants and aquatic
organisms such as crabs and fish. Birds, such as pelicans, became coated in
oil and were unable to fly or access food. More than two million animals
died as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Buried chemical waste can also pollute water supplies. For many years,
people disposed of chemical wastes carelessly, not realizing its dangers. In
the 1970s, people living in the Love Canal area in Niagara Falls, New York,
suffered from extremely high rates of cancer and birth defects. It was
discovered that a chemical waste dump had poisoned the area’s water. In
1978, 800 families living in Love Canal had to abandon their homes.

If not disposed of properly, radioactive waste from nuclear power plants can
escape into the environment. Radioactive waste can harm living things and
pollute the water.

Sewage that has not been properly treated is a common source of water
pollution. Many cities around the world have poor sewage systems and
sewage treatment plants. Delhi, the capital of India, is home to more than 21
million people. More than half the sewage and other waste produced in the
city are dumped into the Yamuna River. This pollution makes the river
dangerous to use as a source of water for drinking or hygiene. It also
reduces the river’s fishery, resulting in less food for the local community.

A major source of water pollution is fertilizer used in agriculture. Fertilizer is

material added to soil to make plants grow larger and faster. Fertilizers
usually contain large amounts of the elements nitrogen and phosphorus,
which help plants grow. Rainwater washes fertilizer into streams and lakes.
There, the nitrogen and phosphorus cause cyanobacteria to form harmful
algal blooms.

Rain washes other pollutants into streams and lakes. It picks up animal
waste from cattle ranches. Cars drip oil onto the street, and rain carries it
into storm drains, which lead to waterways such as rivers and seas. Rain
sometimes washes chemical pesticides off of plants and into streams.
Pesticides can also seep into groundwater, the water beneath the surface of
the Earth.

Heat can pollute water. Power plants, for example, produce a huge amount
of heat. Power plants are often located on rivers so they can use the water
as a coolant. Cool water circulates through the plant, absorbing heat. The
heated water is then returned to the river. Aquatic creatures are sensitive to
changes in temperature. Some fish, for example, can only live in cold water.
Warmer river temperatures prevent fish eggs from hatching. Warmer river
water also contributes to harmful algal blooms.

Another type of water pollution is simple garbage. The Citarum River in

Indonesia, for example, has so much garbage floating in it that you cannot
see the water. Floating trash makes the river difficult to fish in. Aquatic
animals such as fish and turtles mistake trash, such as plastic bags, for food.
Plastic bags and twine can kill many ocean creatures. Chemical pollutants in
trash can also pollute the water, making it toxic for fish and people who use
the river as a source of drinking water. The fish that are caught in a polluted
river often have high levels of chemical toxins in their flesh. People absorb
these toxins as they eat the fish.

Garbage also fouls the ocean. Many plastic bottles and other pieces of trash
are thrown overboard from boats. The wind blows trash out to sea. Ocean
currents carry plastics and other floating trash to certain places on the
globe, where it cannot escape. The largest of these areas, called the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch, is in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. According to
some estimates, this garbage patch is the size of Texas. The trash is a threat
to fish and seabirds, which mistake the plastic for food. Many of the plastics
are covered with chemical pollutants.

Land Pollution
Many of the same pollutants that foul the water also harm the land. Mining
sometimes leaves the soil contaminated with dangerous chemicals.

Pesticides and fertilizers from agricultural fields are blown by the wind.
They can harm plants, animals, and sometimes people. Some fruits and
vegetables absorb the pesticides that help them grow. When people
consume the fruits and vegetables, the pesticides enter their bodies. Some
pesticides can cause cancer and other diseases.

A pesticide called DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was once

commonly used to kill insects, especially mosquitoes. In many parts of the
world, mosquitoes carry a disease called malaria, which kills a million people
every year. Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize
for his understanding of how DDT can control insects and other pests. DDT is
responsible for reducing malaria in places such as Taiwan and Sri Lanka.

In 1962, American biologist Rachel Carson wrote a book called Silent Spring,
which discussed the dangers of DDT. She argued that it could contribute to
cancer in humans. She also explained how it was destroying bird eggs,
which caused the number of bald eagles, brown pelicans, and ospreys to
drop. In 1972, the United States banned the use of DDT. Many other
countries also banned it. But DDT didn’t disappear entirely. Today, many
governments support the use of DDT because it remains the most effective
way to combat malaria.

Trash is another form of land pollution. Around the world, paper, cans, glass
jars, plastic products, and junked cars and appliances mar the landscape.
Litter makes it difficult for plants and other producers in the food web to
create nutrients. Animals can die if they mistakenly eat plastic.

Garbage often contains dangerous pollutants such as oils, chemicals, and

ink. These pollutants can leech into the soil and harm plants, animals, and
people.

Inefficient garbage collection systems contribute to land pollution. Often,

the garbage is picked up and brought to a dump, or landfill. Garbage is
buried in landfills. Sometimes, communities produce so much garbage that
their landfills are filling up. They are running out of places to dump their
trash.
A massive landfill near Quezon City, Philippines, was the site of a land
pollution tragedy in 2000. Hundreds of people lived on the slopes of the
Quezon City landfill. These people made their living from recycling and
selling items found in the landfill. However, the landfill was not secure.
Heavy rains caused a trash landslide, killing 218 people.

Sometimes, landfills are not completely sealed off from the land around
them. Pollutants from the landfill leak into the earth in which they are
buried. Plants that grow in the earth may be contaminated, and the
herbivores that eat the plants also become contaminated. So do the
predators that consume the herbivores. This process, where a chemical
builds up in each level of the food web, is called bioaccumulation.

Pollutants leaked from landfills also leak into local groundwater supplies.
There, the aquatic food web (from microscopic algae to fish to predators
such as sharks or eagles) can suffer from bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals.

Some communities do not have adequate garbage collection systems, and

trash lines the side of roads. In other places, garbage washes up on beaches.
Kamilo Beach, in the U.S. state of Hawai'i, is littered with plastic bags and
bottles carried in by the tide. The trash is dangerous to ocean life and
reduces economic activity in the area. Tourism is Hawai'i’s largest industry.
Polluted beaches discourage tourists from investing in the area’s hotels,
restaurants, and recreational activities.

Some cities incinerate, or burn, their garbage. Incinerating trash gets rid of
it, but it can release dangerous heavy metals and chemicals into the air. So
while trash incinerators can help with the problem of land pollution, they
sometimes add to the problem of air pollution.

Reducing Pollution
Around the world, people and governments are making efforts to combat
pollution. Recycling, for instance, is becoming more common. In recycling,
trash is processed so its useful materials can be used again. Glass, aluminum
cans, and many types of plastic can be melted and reused. Paper can be
broken down and turned into new paper.

Recycling reduces the amount of garbage that ends up in landfills,

incinerators, and waterways. Austria and Switzerland have the highest
recycling rates. These nations recycle between 50 and 60 percent of their
garbage. The United States recycles about 30 percent of its garbage.

Governments can combat pollution by passing laws that limit the amount
and types of chemicals factories and agribusinesses are allowed to use. The
smoke from coal-burning power plants can be filtered. People and
businesses that illegally dump pollutants into the land, water, and air can be
fined for millions of dollars. Some government programs, such as the
Superfund program in the United States, can force polluters to clean up the
sites they polluted.

International agreements can also reduce pollution. The Kyoto Protocol, a

United Nations agreement to limit the emission of greenhouse gases, has
been signed by 191 countries. The United States, the world’s second-largest
producer of greenhouse gases, did not sign the agreement. Other
countries, such as China, the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases,
have not met their goals.

Still, many gains have been made. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River, in the U.S.
state of Ohio, was so clogged with oil and trash that it caught on fire. The
fire helped spur the Clean Water Act of 1972. This law limited what
pollutants could be released into water and set standards for how clean
water should be. Today, the Cuyahoga River is much cleaner. Fish have
returned to regions of the river where they once could not survive.

But even as some rivers are becoming cleaner, others are becoming more
polluted. As countries around the world become wealthier, some forms of
pollution increase. Countries with growing economies usually need more
power plants, which produce more pollutants.

Reducing pollution requires environmental, political, and economic

leadership. Developed nations must work to reduce and recycle their
materials, while developing nations must work to strengthen their
economies without destroying the environment. Developed and
developing countries must work together toward the common goal of
protecting the environment for future use.

FA ST FAC T

How Long Does It Last?

Different materials decompose at different rates. How long does it
take for these common types of trash to break down?

Paper: 2-4 weeks

 Orange peel: 6 months
Milk carton: 5 years
Plastic bag: 15 years
Tin can: 100 years
Plastic bottle: 450 years
Glass bottle: 500 years
Styrofoam: Never

FA ST FAC T

Indoor Air Pollution

The air inside your house can be polluted. Air and carpet cleaners,
insect sprays, and cigarettes are all sources of indoor air pollution.

FA ST FAC T

Light Pollution
Light pollution is the excess amount of light in the night sky. Light
pollution, also called photopollution, is almost always found in urban
areas. Light pollution can disrupt ecosystems by confusing the
distinction between night and day. Nocturnal animals, those that are
active at night, may venture out during the day, while diurnal
animals, which are active during daylight hours, may remain active
well into the night. Feeding and sleep patterns may be confused.
Light pollution also indicates an excess use of energy.
 The dark-sky movement is a campaign by people to reduce light
pollution. This would reduce energy use, allow ecosystems to
function more normally, and allow scientists and stargazers to
observe the atmosphere.

FA ST FAC T

Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is the constant presence of loud, disruptive noises in
an area. Usually, noise pollution is caused by construction or nearby
transportation facilities, such as airports.

Noise pollution is unpleasant, and can be dangerous. Some

songbirds, such as robins, are unable to communicate or find food in
the presence of heavy noise pollution. The sound waves produced by
some noise pollutants can disrupt the sonar used by marine animals
to communicate or locate food.

Website

EPA Environmental Kids Club: Safewater

EPA: Pollution Prevention

Reference
National Geographic Environment: Water pollution is a rising global
crisis. Here’s what you need to know.

National Geographic Environment: Marine pollution, explained

National Geographic Environment: Air pollution, explained

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