Pollution — Flashcards

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Environmental pollution is a large change in the quality of the environment that affects the life of plants and animals adversely. It is a deterioration in the environment caused by undesirable substa…

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Pollution is "the unfavourable alteration of our surroundings wholly or largely as a byproduct of man's action through direct or indirect effect of changes in energy patterns, radiation levels of chem…

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Pollution is "an undesirable change in the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of our air, land and water that may harmfully affect human life." This definition links pollution directly w…

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Man is the chief polluter of the environment. Human activities such as industrialisation, urbanisation, transport, and excessive use of resources have greatly increased pollution.

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Pollutants are substances whose addition to the environment causes pollution. They may be particulate or gaseous. Examples include carbon soot, smoke, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, detergents, lea…

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Biodegradable pollutants can be decomposed into harmless substances by microbes, such as dead and decaying remains of plants and animals, excreta, waste papers, and domestic refuse. Non-biodegradable …

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Primary pollutants are pollutants released directly from the source. Examples include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, and particulate matter such as dust, soot, po…

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Secondary pollutants are produced by reactions among primary pollutants. A major example is PAN, or peroxyacetyl nitrate, which is formed when nitrogen oxide, oxygen, and hydrocarbons react in sunligh…