Environmental pollution - Statistics & Facts

Some of the major forms of pollution apart from air and water pollution include, light pollution from over-illumination, littering, noise pollution, radioactive contaminants from nuclear power generation, as well as plastic waste accumulation that adversely affect wildlife and human habitation. Some of the worst damage from particulate emissions as a percentage of GNI occured in India, China, South African and the DR Congo. In 2015, HI Eastern Mediterranean region generated the largest recorded urban ambient air pollution worldwide recording an average PM10 level of 123 micrograms per cubic meter, the highest

Some of the gaseous pollutants common to air pollution include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and nitrogen oxides produced by industry and motor vehicles. In 2017, the emission of carbon dioxide from energy consumption in the United States amounted to approximately 5.1 billion metric tons with estimated C02 emissions of around 16.4 metric ton per person. Water or soil contamination may occur due to chemical underground leakages or spills. The average annual number of oil spills that were greater than 700 tons of oil worldwide fell from 24.5 in the 1970s to 1.7 from between 2010 and 2016. Apart from industrial spills, food waste accounted for the largest amount of industrial sector water releases in the United States.

According to surveys from over the past decade, there continues to be major public concerns over the adverse effects of pollution on human health and the environment. More than half of respondents expressed a “great deal” of concern over the pollution of rivers, lakes and reservoirs in the U.S. Some of the more popular actions undertaken by Americans to reduce carbon pollution include: the purchase of higher efficiency appliances, planting trees, buying smaller or more fuel efficient cars, or adding insulation to a home.

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