Q 01/05

Pollution coming from one concentrated site, like a factory, is called what?

A) Point source

B) Nonpoint source

C) Legacy

D) Diffuse

Answer · why

A) Point source

Agricultural runoff and microplastics are the classic nonpoint sources.

Q 02/05

Roughly how many people did pollution kill worldwide in 2019?

A) One million

B) Nine million

C) Three million

D) Twenty million

Answer · why

B) Nine million

That was about one in six deaths that year, roughly three-quarters of them from air pollution.

Q 03/05

Which type of pollution caused about three-quarters of pollution deaths in 2019?

A) Water

B) Soil

C) Air

D) Noise

Answer · why

C) Air

Outdoor air pollution from fossil fuels alone is blamed for roughly 3.6 million deaths a year.

Q 04/05

Before the 1860s, what did the word 'pollution' usually refer to?

A) Smoke from burning coal fires

B) Filth in city river water

C) Food that had spoiled in storage

D) Desecration of something sacred

Answer · why

D) Desecration of something sacred

Air pollution was instead called 'the smoke nuisance', 'the smoke evil' or even 'the smoke plague'.

Q 05/05

PFAS compounds are informally known by what nickname?

A) Forever chemicals

B) Ghost gases

C) Dead metals

D) Zombie plastics

Answer · why

A) Forever chemicals

Scientists in 2022 called PFAS pollution a newly crossed planetary boundary.