Nonpoint-source pollution refers to diffuse contamination of air, soil, or water arising from multiple, spatially distributed sources rather than a single, identifiable discharge point, making it analytically and regulatorily distinct from point-source emissions. In environmental science and management, it typically encompasses runoff from agricultural lands, urban surfaces, and forested or disturbed areas that mobilizes nutrients, sediments, pesticides, metals, and organic contaminants. Because pollutant loading varies with land use, hydrologic conditions, and meteorological events, nonpoint-source pollution is modeled using watershed-scale approaches, stochastic or process-based transport models, and is addressed through best management practices, land-use controls, and integrated catchment management rather than end-of-pipe treatment.
A new study has revealed how tiny microbes in rivers and wetlands across China help clean up excess nitrogen pollution, offering fresh insights into the health of freshwater ecosystems and the global nitrogen cycle.
Ecology
Sep 25, 2025
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21
Heavy soil sealing combined with insufficient retention and infiltration (seepage) potentially increases the risk of pollution and flooding in cities during heavy rainfall. Sustainable, decentralized urban drainage systems ...
Environment
Sep 11, 2025
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21
Critical wildlife habitats are exposed to pollution risk in the seas off the southern United States, with implications for human health and food security. "Most of the pollution comes from rivers and not from wastewater treatment ...
Environment
Sep 10, 2025
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36
Plastic pollution is a "grave, growing and under-recognized danger" to health that is costing the world at least $1.5 trillion a year, experts warned in a report on Monday.
Environment
Aug 4, 2025
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199
In the 1990s, scientists restoring streams around Seattle, Wash., noticed that returning coho salmon were dying after rainstorms. The effects were immediate: the fish swam in circles, gasping at the surface, then died in ...
Environment
Jul 31, 2025
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19
Most of the plastic bottles and caps that pollute the Pacific coasts of Latin American countries are of local origin, and are mainly produced by the multinational companies The Coca-Cola Company, Aje Group and PepsiCo. The ...
Environment
Jul 24, 2025
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41
A pilot study has revealed that everyday pedestrian movement—such as walking, kicking, or brushing past litter—can unintentionally propel waste into rivers, adding a previously overlooked human factor to the global plastic ...
Environment
Jul 21, 2025
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32
Nighttime satellite images have shown that cities are getting brighter, and light pollution is now recognized as an environmental issue. But how should local governments even begin the work of resolving this if nobody really ...
Environment
Jun 16, 2025
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25
A new study from North Carolina State University researchers finds that conversion of forests to urban development or agriculture near streams can have harmful effects on water quality downstream, presenting both health concerns ...
Environment
May 6, 2025
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44
A new form of low-cost, 3D-printed water pollution sensor could make a splash in the world of environmental monitoring, its developers say.
Nanomaterials
Jun 5, 2023
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98
