Introduction
Pollution occurs when contaminants are introduced into nature that cause harm to the environment. There is no single chemical or gas that causes pollution, rather it is a collection of thousands of substances. Pollution not only affects the environment, but can be dangerous to people, either causing or worsening health problems and even lead to death; additionally, it can damage agricultural products and ruin food supplies.
Determining a particular actor who is responsible for specific pollution is difficult, if not near-impossible; however, chronic polluters are often easier to find. For example, greenhouse gasses, such as CO2, are emitted from industrial facilities; moreover, less wealthy countries will often not have the means to pay for better infrastructure to prevent and remove pollution. One other consideration when looking at pollution by country is whether one is measuring total emissions or emissions per capita.
Learn more about pollution by country in the map and charts.
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