What is pollution?

Environment

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by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author

Keeping the environment clean is very important – plants, animals, and people all rely on having a clean world to live in!

Pollution refers to harmful substances that contaminate the environment. Usually pollution is described as affecting the land, the water, or the air, but because the different systems of our planet are all connected, if one aspect of the environment becomes polluted, it affects the others too.

There are lots of different types of pollution. For example, land pollution might include litter (trash that’s not disposed of properly which harms natural habitats). Water pollution can include chemicals dumped into oceans or streams by factories, or runoff that flows from the land into rivers and oceans that has been contaminated by chemicals like fertilizers on the ground. Air pollution includes smoke from factories and emissions from cars and airplanes. Even loud noises and artificial light are types of pollution – these man-made disturbances can interfere with the lives of animals in the wild!

Luckily, there are lots of ways that we can help reduce and eliminate pollution. Recycling materials like glass, plastic, paper, and aluminum helps to reduce waste and prevent litter. Carpooling helps create fewer emissions from cars and turning off lights whenever you’re not using them helps prevent unnecessary light pollution and saves energy. – GO GREEN!

Pollution Police!

To see why pollution is so harmful, try this experiment at home! – It’ll give you a good idea of how pollution in one area (the water) can affect another (plants).

Get some white carnations and put them in a vase of clean water. Put a few other white carnations in another vase, and add a few drops of food coloring the water of the second vase.

After a day or two, do you notice any changes in the flowers?? Do the flowers in each vase still look the same, or have the flowers in one vase changed a little bit?

How do you think this is similar to what happens to plants when there are unnatural chemicals dumped into their drinking water?

What are some ways you can help reduce pollution and keep the environment clean??