Pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem[->0] i.e. physical systems or living organisms .[1] Pollution can take the form of chemical substances[->1], or energy[->2], such as noise, heat, or light energy. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. Pollution is often classed as point source[->3] or nonpoint source pollution[->4]. The Blacksmith Institute[->5] issues annually a list of the world's worst polluted places. In the 2007 issues the ten top nominees are located in Azerbaijan[->6], China[->7], India[->8], Peru[->9], Russia[->10], Ukraine[->11] and Zambia[->12].

History
Throughout history from Ancient Greece[->13] to Andalusia[->14], Ancient China[->15], central Europe during the Renaissance[->16] until today, philosophers ranging from Aristotle[->17], Al-Farabi[->18], Al-Ghazali[->19], Averroes[->20], Buddha[->21], Confucius[->22], Dante[->23], Hegel[->24], Avicenna[->25], Lao Tse[->26], Maimonedes[->27], Montesquieu[->28], Nussbaum[->29], Plato[->30], Socrates[->31] and Sun Tzu[->32] wrote about the pollution of the body as well as the mind and soul.
Prehistory
Humankind has had some effect upon the environment since the Paleolithic[->33] era during which the ability to generate fire was acquired. In the Iron Age[->34], the use of tooling led to the practice of metal grinding[->35] on a small scale and resulted in minor accumulations of discarded material probably easily dispersed without too much impact. Human wastes would have polluted rivers or water sources to some degree. However, these effects could be expected predominantly to be dwarfed by the natural world.
Ancient cultures
The first advanced civilizations of Mesopotamia[->36], Egypt[->37], India[->38], China[->39], Persia[->40],...