Business and pollution

The environment is the totality of man's surroundings, both natural (air, water, land, plants and animals) and man-made (such as buildings, roads and machines).

Pollution is the injection of harmful substances into the environment, more than it can absorb. Nature can clean up a little waste on its own, but its absorbing power is limited; when we put in more than that, pollution builds up.

Industry is a major generator of waste, both in its quantity and in how toxic (poisonous) it is. Business causes four kinds of pollution:

• Air pollution: exhaust from motor vehicles and smoke from factories make the air dirty and harmful to breathe.
• Water pollution: chemicals and waste, including plastic, dumped into rivers, streams and lakes.
• Land pollution: toxic wastes dumped on land, which spoil it for farming or living.
• Noise pollution: the constant noise of factories and vehicles, which harms people's health and peace.

The United Nations has listed eight serious environmental problems facing the world, from the depletion of the ozone layer to the danger to biological diversity (the many kinds of plants and animals).