Pollution

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Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms . Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution. The Blacksmith Institute issues annually a list of the world's worst polluted places. In the 2007 issues the ten top nominees are located in Azerbaijan, China, India, Peru, Russia, Ukraine and Zambia.

For more information about Pollution, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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News tagged with pollution

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Ohio school district sues over air pollution

Space & Earth / Environment

created 17 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- A school district near Cincinnati is suing a plastics plant, accusing it of continuing to release chemicals in the air that exceed government safety standards.


New climate targets may not change daily life much (AP)

New climate targets may not change daily life much

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 27, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (14) | comments 14

(AP) -- Americans' day-to-day lives won't change noticeably if President Barack Obama achieves his newly announced goal of slashing carbon dioxide pollution by one-sixth in the next decade, experts say.


Obama to plead US case at global warming summit (AP)

Obama to plead US case at global warming summit

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 26, 2009 | popularity 1.7 / 5 (6) | comments 1

(AP) -- President Barack Obama will commit the United States to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas pollution over the next decade - despite resistance in Congress over higher costs - when he travels to a ...


coughing

Research reveals exactly how coughing is triggered by environmental irritants

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have revealed how environmental irritants such as air pollution and cigarette smoke cause people to cough, in research published today in the American Journal of Respiratory an ...


Physicist makes new high-res panorama of Milky Way

Physicist makes new high-res panorama of Milky Way

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 3

Cobbling together 3000 individual photographs, a physicist has made a new high-resolution panoramic image of the full night sky, with the Milky Way galaxy as its centerpiece. Axel Mellinger, a professor at ...


MU researcher uses bacteria to make radioactive metals inert

Researcher uses bacteria to make radioactive metals inert

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Sep 08, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (14) | comments 16

The Lost Orphan Mine below the Grand Canyon hasn't produced uranium since the 1960s, but radioactive residue still contaminates the area. Cleaning the region takes an expensive process that is only done in ...


New York residents walk on the sidewalk  in Manahattan in New York

Path to good health, less pollution is the sidewalk: report

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

US pressure groups joined forces Monday to urge authorities to spend more to improve Americans' health and cut greenhouse gas emissions.


States call on EPA for tougher air pollution regulations

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Twelve states and the District of Columbia urged the Environmental Protection Agency Thursday to adopt more rigorous national policies so they can meet federal air pollution reduction requirements for the region.


Air pollution increases infants' risk of bronchiolitis

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Infants who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution are at increased risk for bronchiolitis, according to a new study.


Sky Pods

Are Magnetically Levitating 'Sky Pods' the Future of Travel?

Technology / Hi Tech

created Sep 23, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (26) | comments 47

(PhysOrg.com) -- As a society, we are increasingly interested in finding new ways of transportation that are cleaner for the environment. New concepts in mass transit seem to be one of the main ways to move ...


Study finds big air pollution impacts on local communities

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Heavy traffic corridors in the cities of Long Beach and Riverside are responsible for a significant proportion of preventable childhood asthma, and the true impact of air pollution and ship emissions on the disease has likely ...


The first evidence of pre-industrial mercury pollution in the Andes

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 18, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 2

The study of ancient lake sediment from high altitude lakes in the Andes has revealed for the first time that mercury pollution occurred long before the start of the Industrial Revolution.


Riau Smoke

Scientists trace the human role in Indonesian forest fires

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Feb 22, 2009 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Severe fires in Indonesia - responsible for some of the worst air quality conditions worldwide - are linked not only to drought, but also to changes in land use and population density, according to a new study ...


Report: Most Americans in areas with unhealthy air (AP)

Report: Most Americans in areas with unhealthy air

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 29, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 4

(AP) -- Sixty percent of Americans live in areas with unhealthy air pollution levels, despite a growing green movement and more stringent laws aimed at improving air quality, the American Lung Association ...


Deer Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park

Tree deaths have doubled across the western US

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 22, 2009 | popularity 2.9 / 5 (11) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study led by the U.S. Geological Survey and involving the University of Colorado at Boulder indicates tree deaths in the West's old-growth forests have more than doubled in recent decades, ...