Environmental Pollution

The ozone hole is visible during the Antarctic spring, from September to early December, as strong westerly winds start to circulate around the continent and create an atmospheric container.

All types of asbestos fibres are known to cause serious health hazards in humans. While it is agreed that amosite and crocidolite are the most hazardous asbestos fibre types, chrysotile asbestos has produced tumors in animals and is a recognised cause of asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma in humans.

Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂₎ from the atmosphere. About 30–40% of the carbon dioxide released by humans into the atmosphere dissolves into the oceans, rivers and lakes.

In order, the most abundant greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are:

Water vapour (H₂O)
Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
Methane (CH₄)
Nitrous oxide (N₂O)
Ozone (O₃)
Nitrogen, oxygen and argon are non- green house gases.

Coliform bacteria are a commonly used bacterial indicator of sanitary quality of foods and water. The presence of coliform suggests that the water is being contaminated with the faecal material of humans, livestocks, pets and other animals. Rivers Yamuna, Ganga, Gomti, Ghaggar, Chambal, Mahi and Vardha are amongst the other most coliform-polluted water bodies in India.

Ballast water taken up at sea and released in ports, is a major source of unwanted exotic marine life. The invasive freshwater zebra mussels, native to the Black, Caspian and Azov Seas, were probably transported to the Great Lakes via ballast water from a transoceanic vessel.

In 2002, the Indian government accepted the report submitted by the Mashelkar Committee. The Committee proposed a road map for the roll out of Euro based emission norms for India. It also recommended a phased implementation of future norms with the regulations being implemented in major cities first and extended to the rest of the country after a few years.

Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly. Rather they form in the air when primary pollutants react or interact. An important example of secondary pollutants is ground-level ozone, one of the many secondary pollutants that make up the photochemical smog.

Greenhouse gases are those that can absorb and emit infrared radiation, but not radiation in or near the visible spectrum.

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is a method of quantifying and numerically benchmarking the environmental performance of a country's policies.This index was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, first published in 2002, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the U.N. Millennium Development Goals.
The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) was the predecessor to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). The ESI was a first attempt to rank countries on 76 different elements of environmental sustainability.
According to 2012 index, Switzerland was on top, followed by Latvia, Norway, Luxembourg and Costa Rica. India ranked a dismal 125^th.

The Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) is a worldwide system established by the World Meteorological Organization, a United Nations agency that monitors trends in the Earth's atmosphere. It arose out of concerns for the state of the atmosphere in the 1960s.

Hydroelectric energy causes the lowest carbon dioxide emission.

The Indian Asian brown cloud is a layer of air pollution that recurrently covers parts of South Asia, namely the northern Indian Ocean, India, and Pakistan. Viewed from satellite photos, the cloud appears as a giant brown stain hanging in the air over much of South Asia and the Indian Ocean every year between January and March, possibly also during earlier and later months.

Solid waste policy in India specifies the duties and responsibilities for hygienic waste management for cities and citizens of India. This policy was framed in September 2000, based on the March 1999 Report of the Committee for Solid Waste Management in Class 1 Cities of India to the Supreme Court. The report recommends that cities should provide free waste collection for all slums and public areas, but charge the full cost of collection on 'polluter pays' principle, from hotels, eateries, marriage halls, hospitals and clinics, wholesale markets, shops in commercial streets, office complexes, cattle sheds, slaughterhouses, fairs and exhibitions, inner-city cottage industry and petty trade.

Global dimming is the gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the Earth's surface that was observed for several decades after the start of systematic measurements in the 1950s. Global dimming is thought to have been caused by an increase in particulates such as sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere due to human action.