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water pollution

(Encyclopedia)water pollution, contamination of water resources by harmful wastes; see also sewerage, water supply, pollution, and environmentalism. The United States has enacted extensive federal legislation to ...

pollution

(Encyclopedia)pollution, contamination of the environment as a result of human activities. The term pollution refers primarily to the fouling of air, water, and land by wastes (see air pollution; water pollution; s...

air pollution

(Encyclopedia)air pollution, contamination of the air by noxious gases and minute particles of solid and liquid matter (particulates) in concentrations that endanger health. The major sources of air pollution are t...

water rights

(Encyclopedia)water rights, in law, the qualified privilege of a landowner to use the water adjacent to or flowing through his property. The privilege, also known as riparian rights, may be modified or even denied ...

pollution allowance

(Encyclopedia)pollution allowance or emission rights, government-issued permit to emit a certain amount of a pollutant. The holder of the permit may use it to pollute legally, may trade permits, or may sell the per...

noise pollution

(Encyclopedia)noise pollution, human-created noise harmful to health or welfare. Transportation vehicles are the worst offenders, with aircraft, railroad stock, trucks, buses, automobiles, and motorcycles all produ...

water supply

(Encyclopedia)water supply, process or activity by which water is provided for some use, e.g., to a home, factory, or business. The term may also refer to the supply of water provided in this way. In the United Sta...

water

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Water molecule (black circles represent valence-shell electrons) B. Structure of ice: Each oxygen atom (white circles) is bonded to four other oxygen atoms by hydrogen bonds, the hydrogen at...

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