ABSTRACT
An environmental sink is a repository for potentially damaging by-products of human activity. The environment has little or no absorptive capacity for stock pollutants, which quickly overwhelm environmental sinks and accumulate in the environment over time. Pollutants for which the environment has moderate absorptive capacity are called fund pollutants. Flow pollutants can be initially damaging, but are dissipated into environmental sinks with relative ease. A uniformly distributed pollutant causes the same environmental damage regardless of where it is released. The United Kingdom’s Environmental Agency reported 59 “serious” pollution incidents involving water companies, down slightly from 61 the previous year. The production of energy is a primary source of environmental damage worldwide. Light pollution also causes stress for wildlife just as noise pollution does, and its mere existence can render otherwise suitable wildlife habitat uninhabitable. Careful attention to the environmental issues of lighting, noise, water quality, and low-impact development has also improved local tourism and property values.
