Pollution

Find out everything there is to know about pollution and stay updated on the latest pollution news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and pollution pictures at LiveScience.com. Learn more as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries about pollution.

Latest about Pollution

Smoke rises from an industrial building during sunset

Pollution facts and types of pollution

By Alina Bradford last updated

The different ways that the environment gets contaminated.

photo shows fumes exiting the tailpipe of a light blue car that appears to be in traffic

Even brief exposure to diesel fumes alters activity in key brain network, study finds

By Rebecca Sohn published

An experimental study suggests that diesel fumes might disrupt the brain's typical pattern of activity.

A painting of the House of Parliament at Sunset by Claude Monet.

Monet and Turner's atmospheric landscapes actually depicted air pollution, new study finds

By Jennifer Nalewicki published

Impressionist painters like Monet depicted their smog-filled surroundings in their artworks.

Sherpa cleans up Everest.

How Much Trash Is on Mount Everest?

By Kimberly Hickok last updated

So much trash and nowhere for it to go leads to a mountain of trash.

The false-color view of the monthly-averaged total ozone over the Antarctic pole for October 2022. The blue and purple colors are where there is the least ozone.

Hole in the ozone layer has grown for a 3rd year in a row — but scientists aren’t concerned

By JoAnna Wendel published

The ozone hole is the largest it's been since 2015, but overall it's still decreasing.

Pollution from smokestacks

No More Free-Pass for Carbon Pollution (Op-Ed)

By Laurie Johnson last updated

Is it time to limit carbon pollution?

A factory at sunset in Cleveland, Ohio

Kids' Mental Health Risks Rise with Poor Air Quality

By Agata Blaszczak-Boxe last updated

Higher levels of air pollution may be linked with worse mental health in children, a new study suggests.

Light pollution seen from Pic du Midi de Bigorre Observatory

Light pollution: Environmental impact, health risks and facts

By Scott Dutfield published

Reference Discover the facts about light pollution and its impact on the environment and our health.

Reference
A multi-panel comic explains the Great Lego Spill of 1997.

5 million shipwrecked Legos still washing up 25 years after falling overboard

By Mindy Weisberger published

A once-in-a-century wave that struck a cargo ship 25 years ago caused the worst toy-related environmental disaster of all time, known as the Great Lego Spill.

A close-up of a brown trout in the hands of a researcher by a river

Fish get addicted to meth in polluted rivers, go through withdrawal

By Nicoletta Lanese published

A lab study suggests that brown trout can experience withdrawal from meth after exposure to the drug.

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