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Light pollution is the presence of any unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial lighting. [1] [2] In a descriptive sense, the term light pollution refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting sources, during the day or night. Light pollution can be understood not only as a phenomenon resulting from a specific source or kind ...
Water pollution also reduces the ecosystem services such as drinking water provided by the water resource. Sources of water pollution are either point sources or non-point sources. [4] Point sources have one identifiable cause, such as a storm drain, a wastewater treatment plant or an oil spill. Non-point sources are more diffuse.
Natural radioactive elements are present in very low concentrations in Earth's crust, and are brought to the surface through human activities such as oil and gas exploration or mining, and through natural processes like leakage of radon gas to the atmosphere or through dissolution in ground water. Another example of TENORM is coal ash produced ...
Outgoing longwave radiation ( OLR) is the longwave radiation emitted to space from the top of Earth's atmosphere. [1] : 2241 It may also be referred to as emitted terrestrial radiation. Outgoing longwave radiation plays an important role in planetary cooling. Longwave radiation generally spans wavelengths ranging from 3–100 micrometres (μm).
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. [ 1] Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring ...
The existence of nearly all life on Earth is fueled by light from the Sun. Most autotrophs, such as plants, use the energy of sunlight, combined with carbon dioxide and water, to produce simple sugars—a process known as photosynthesis. These sugars are then used as building-blocks and in other synthetic pathways that allow the organism to grow.
Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirable (from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) definition). [ 3]
Ecological light pollution [1] is the effect of artificial light on individual organisms and on the structure of ecosystems as a whole. The effect that artificial light has upon organisms is highly variable, [2] and ranges from beneficial (e.g. increased ability for predator species to observe prey) to immediately fatal (e.g. moths that are ...