Section outline

  • The environment is defined as the surroundings of a physical system that may interact with other systems by exchanging mass and energy. All living beings and non-living things fall under the natural environment. A substance becomes a pollutant when its concentration is greater than the natural abundance and this increase in concentration is either due to human activities or natural phenomena.  There are pollutants which can be degraded and rapidly broken down by natural processes similar to the degradation of vegetables.