Question

Non-Fiction Library - 0/6
+0

Activating this element will cause an extra tools region to appear

Air and Water Pollution

Pollution has existed for as long as humans have been on Earth. Pollution has gotten worse over time. It has become a huge problem for animals, humans, and the land.


A factory produces smoke full of pollutants.

What is Pollution?

Pollution is when chemicals harm nature. Pollutants make the water and air dirty and unsafe.


Water and air pollution can have health effects on humans

Humans are able to breathe because the air is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor. Anything else in the air is pollution.


It can be caused by greenhouse gases or other dangerous gases. Burning fuels makes soot that also creates pollution. Factories and cars make a lot of this pollution. Humans breathe these pollutants every day. Millions of people die or get sick each year. They get asthma, heart disease, and other breathing illnesses.


Polluted air in Beijing, China (right) compared to a clear day after rainfall (left).

The Clean Air Act was passed in the U.S. in 1970. It tried to stop pollution. The act forbids certain pollutants from entering the air. But these laws cannot undo the damage that been done.


Water Pollution

Water pollution has become a huge problem. Sewage, runoff from farms, and factory waste all find their way into water. The Environmental Protection Agency says 64 percent of all lakes in America are too polluted for fishing and swimming. Billions of people around the world do not have clean water due to pollution.


Waste on the shore of a lake in Venezuela

Some parts of the ocean have no animals because the pollution is so bad. Chemicals kill plants and animals. They harm humans. Sewage decreases the amount of oxygen in the water, causing more damage.


What Can Be Done?

Pollution cannot be wished away. We need to change the way we live. We need to make less waste. We must reuse and recycle things. We need to use fewer chemicals. Businesses, governments, and organizations need to work together. They must teach people how to protect the air and water.


Windmills are one form of clean energy.
Scroll Down

Questions
Pick two diseases that can be caused by pollution.


Asthma


High blood pressure


Diabetes


Heart disease
Where does water pollution come from? Select three.


Factory waste


Sewage


Clouds


Runoff from farms
What is the meaning of the word “forbid”?


Reject


Not allow


Own


Approve
Why was the Clean Air Act passed in 1970?


To stop factories from being built


To punish people polluting


To test the oceans for pollution


To reduce the amount of pollution in the air
“Pollution cannot be wished away.” What does this mean?


Pollution will only get worse.


Pollution must be fixed right away.


Pollution is created by humans.


Pollution will not go away on its own.
What does it mean to “fend something off”?


To provide it


To ask permission for it


To stop it from happening


To send it off
Please answer all questions

Answer 1

1) Pick two diseases that can be caused by pollution.
- Asthma
- Heart disease

2) Where does water pollution come from? (Select three.)
- Factory waste
- Sewage
- Runoff from farms

3) What is the meaning of the word “forbid”?
- Not allow

4) Why was the Clean Air Act passed in 1970?
- To reduce the amount of pollution in the air

5) “Pollution cannot be wished away.” What does this mean?
- Pollution will not go away on its own.

6) What does it mean to “fend something off”?
- To stop it from happening