The major threat to environment is pollution. Different types of pollution are - air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution. All these affect the environment in different ways.

1. Air Pollution – It is a major environmental problem in both rural and urban areas. However in urban areas the air pollution is more than the rural areas due to the emissions from industries and vehicles but in rural areas also the burning of wood and coal for domestic purpose causes air pollution.

2. Water pollution – It affects the surface water as well as groundwater. The major sources of water pollution include domestic wastage, factory effluents, runoff from agricultural farms.

3. Noise pollution – It is mostly found in urban areas and the causes of noise pollution are traffic, political campaigns, loudspeakers, etc.

The various risks related to pollution are –

• Air pollution can cause various problems like respiratory problems, serious illness and sometimes even death.

• Water pollution causes water borne diseases, contaminated drinking water and reduces the immunity level among the children.

• Noise pollution can cause hearing impairment.