Pollution

When chemicals and dust get into the air and make it dirty and unsafe, it is called air pollution. The chemicals and dust make the air unhealthy for people, animals and plants.

Some big sources of air pollution are factories and cars. Car exhaust and smoke from factory smokestacks pollute the air with chemicals. The chemicals make the air dirty and unhealthy to breathe.

In some big cities, you can actually see the pollution in the air! Big cities have more problems with air pollution because they have more factories with smokestacks and more cars that make exhaust. The exhaust from cars, trucks and buses makes the air cloudy. The cloudy air is called smog and can cause lung disease.

Water pollution occurs when dirt and unhealthy chemicals get into our water. The dirt and chemicals make our water dirty and unsafe to drink and use.

Factories are a source of water pollution. Factories sometimes dump unhealthy chemicals and things they don't need into rivers and lakes. The chemicals and waste from the factories eventually end up in our water supply and pollute the water. Some of these chemicals can hurt fish, plants and even people.

Farms are another source of water pollution. When it rains on a farm, soil and chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides are washed into rivers, lakes and underground water. When the soil and chemicals get into our water, it can cause harmful plants to grow that hurt fish and other plants.

Another source of water pollution comes from oil spills in the ocean. Sometimes the boats that transport big shipments of oil have accidents and spill the oil they carry. The oil that spills into the water can kill fish, birds and other animals that come in contact with it.

Clean air and water are necessary for all living things, which is why air and water pollution are big problems. Some factories and farmers have realized that they cause pollution problems. This is why they have taken steps to try to prevent pollution.

Some farmers try to help prevent water pollution by keeping soil and fertilizers from running off into the water supply. Some farmers plant and plow their crops so they don't lose as much soil and fertilizer.

Some factories try to help prevent the air and water pollution that they create. Some factories purify the water they use before they dump it back into rivers and lakes. Some factories put filters on their smokestacks to filter out the bad chemicals that would be released into the air.