History of environmental pollution

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/history-of-environmental-pollution

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the early societal impact?Agrarian societies (8,000-12,000 years ago) initiated landscape modification through farming and settlement
2. What is the mid-20th century movement?The environmental movement gained momentum, highlighting the ecological costs of industrial progress
3. What did early humans do that changed the Earth?Early humans used fire, cleared forests for farms, and raised animals, which changed the air, soil, and plants around them.
4. Why did the Industrial Revolution cause more pollution?The Industrial Revolution used a lot of coal to power machines and cities, releasing smoke and dirty water that made air and rivers worse.

Neolithic Revolution: The transition from nomadic hunting and gathering to settled agriculture, profoundly altering human-environment interactions.
Fossil Fuels: Non-renewable energy sources formed from ancient organic matter, whose combustion releases significant pollutants and greenhouse gases.
Ecological Footprint: A metric measuring the total amount of Earth's biologically productive land and sea area required to support a population's resource consumption and waste assimilation.
Biodiversity Loss: The decline in the variety of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or the entire Earth, often driven by habitat destruction and climate change.