‎ The introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause ‎adverse change. 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 contaminants.‎<br />Although environmental pollution can be caused by natural events, the ‎word pollution generally implies that the contaminants have an ‎anthropogenic source that is, a source created by human activities, such ‎as manufacturing, extractive industries, poor waste management, ‎transportation or agriculture. Pollution is often classed as point ‎source (coming from a highly concentrated specific site, such as ‎a factory, mine, construction site), or nonpoint source pollution (coming ‎from a widespread distributed sources, such ‎as microplastics or agricultural runoff).‎<br />Many sources of pollution were unregulated parts ‎of industrialization during the 19th and 20th centuries until the emergence ‎of environmental regulation and pollution policy in the latter half of the ‎‎20th century. Sites where historically polluting industries ‎released persistent pollutants may have legacy pollution long after the ‎source of the pollution is stopped. Major forms of pollution include air ‎pollution, water pollution, litter, noise pollution, plastic pollution, soil ‎contamination, radioactive contamination, thermal pollution, light pollution, ‎and visual pollution. ‎<br />Pollution has widespread consequences on human and environmental ‎health, having systematic impact on social and economic systems. In ‎‎2019, pollution killed approximately nine million people worldwide (about ‎one in six deaths that year); about three-quarters of these deaths were ‎caused by air pollution. A 2022 literature review found that levels of ‎anthropogenic chemical pollution have exceeded planetary ‎boundaries and now threaten entire ecosystems around the world. ‎Pollutants frequently have outsized impacts on vulnerable populations, ‎such as children and the elderly, and marginalized communities, because ‎polluting industries and toxic waste sites tend to be collocated with ‎populations with less economic and political power. This outsized impact ‎is a core reason for the formation of the environmental justice ‎movement, and continues to be a core element of environmental ‎conflicts, particularly in the Global South.‎<br />Because of the impacts of these chemicals, local and international ‎countries' policy have increasingly sought to regulate pollutants, resulting ‎in increasing air and water quality standards, alongside regulation of ‎specific waste streams. Regional and national policy is typically ‎supervised by environmental agencies or ministries, while international ‎efforts are coordinated by the UN Environmental Program and ‎other treaty bodies. Pollution mitigation is an important part of all of ‎the Sustainable Development Goals.‎<br /><br />Types of Pollution:‎<br />‎1)‎ Air pollution ‎<br />‎2)‎ Electromagnetic pollution<br />‎3)‎ Light pollution.‎<br />‎4)‎ Littering<br />‎5)‎ Noise pollution<br />‎6)‎ Plastic pollution<br />‎7)‎ Soil contamination occurs when chemicals are released by spill or ‎underground leakage. ‎<br />‎8)‎ Radioactive contamination, resulting from 20th century activities ‎in atomic physics, such as nuclear power generation and nuclear ‎weapons research, manufacture and deployment. ‎<br />‎9)‎ Thermal pollution, is a temperature change in natural water bodies ‎caused by human influence, as use of water as coolant in a power ‎plant. ‎<br />‎10)‎ Visual pollution, which can refer to the presence of overhead power ‎lines, motorway billboards, scarred landforms (as from strip ‎mining), open storage of trash, municipal solid waste or space ‎debris.‎<br />‎11)‎ Water pollution, caused by the discharge of industrial wastewater ‎from commercial and industrial waste (intentionally or through ‎spills) into surface waters; discharges of untreated sewage and ‎chemical contaminants, such as chlorine, from treated sewage.‎<br />The Effect of Pollution on Health:‎<br />These pollutants increase the risk of heart and respiratory diseases, as ‎well as lung cancer and strokes. Ozone is a major factor in causing ‎asthma (or making it worse), and nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide can ‎also cause asthma, bronchial symptoms, lung inflammation and reduced ‎lung function.‎<br />‎1)‎ Asthma.‎<br />‎2)‎ Autism.‎<br />‎3)‎ Autoimmune Diseases.‎<br />‎4)‎ Breast Cancer.‎<br />‎5)‎ Inflammation.‎<br />‎6)‎ Kidney Disease.‎<br />‎7)‎ Lung Diseases.‎<br />‎8)‎ Obesity. ‎<br />جامعة المستقبل الجامعة الاولى في العراق