Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulates, biological materials, or other harmful materials into the Earth's atmosphere,

possibly causing disease, death to humans, damage to other living organisms such as food crops, or the natural or built environment. The atmosphere is a complex natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on planet Earth. Stratospheric ozone depletion due to air pollution has long been recognized as a threat to human health as well as to the Earth's ecosystems. Indoor air pollution (see Airlog) and urban air quality are listed as two of the worlds worst toxic pollution problems in the 2008 Blacksmith Institute World's Worst Polluted Places report.[1]
What causes air pollution? Air pollution can result from both human and natural actions. Natural events that pollute the air include forest fires, volcanic eruptions, wind erosion, pollen dispersal, evaporation of organic compounds and natural radioactivity. Pollution from natural occurrences are not very often.

What are the effects of air pollution? Acidification: Chemical reactions involving air pollutants can create acidic compounds which can cause harm to vegetation and buildings. Sometimes, when an air pollutant, such as sulfuric acid combines with the water droplets that make up clouds, the water droplets become acidic, forming acid rain. When acid rain falls over an area, it can kill trees and harm animals, fish, and other wildlife.

Introduction
Pollution in the Lachine Canal, Canada

Water pollution is a major global problem which requires ongoing evaluation and revision of water resource policy at all levels (international down to individual aquifers and wells). It has been suggested that it is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases,[1][2] and that it accounts for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily.[2] An estimated of 580 people in India die of water pollution related sickness every day.[3] Some 90% of China's cities suffer from some degree of water pollution,[4] and nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater). Water pollution occurs when pollutants are directly or indirectly discharged into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds.

Protecting Clean Water

Dirty water is the world's biggest health risk, and continues to threaten both quality of life and public health in the United States. When water from rain and melting snow runs off roofs and roads into our rivers, it picks up toxic chemicals, dirt, trash and disease-carrying organisms along the way. Many of our water resources also lack basic protections, making them vulnerable to pollution from factory farms, industrial plants, and activities like fracking. This can lead to drinking water contamination, habitat degradation and beach closures. NRDC is working to protect our water from pollution by:

Drawing on existing protections in the Clean Water Act, and working to ensure that the law's pollution control programs apply to all important waterways, including headwater streams and wetlands, which provide drinking water for 117 million Americans; Improving protections to reduce pollutants like bacteria and viruses, which threaten Americans' health and well being; and Establishing new pollution limits for top problem areas, such as sources of runoff and sewage overflows.

Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water. In almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities.