Photos of pollution (water and air) for students
Looking for photos of water pollution to illustrate your school or college project? You've come to the right place. We've collected together a mini "photo library" of over 50 public domain (copyright free) images you can safely use without worrying about copyright. We do hope you find them useful.
Before you read on, you might like to note that these three other handy pollution pages:
- Introduction to water pollution: a basic overview of the whole subject.
- Finding out about water pollution: links to over 200 great sites about pollution.
- Finding out about air pollution: more links to air pollution pages.
Have you read this Introduction to water pollution page? If not, you might like to start there.
Last updated: December 1, 2007.
Click on the thumbnail images on the left to link to a full-size picture. If you need a hi-res image for printing, you'll need to visit the website on the right and search.
| Thumbnail Click for bigger picture |
Description | Source |
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Amoco Oil Spill | US
Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Cleaning up after Amoco oil spill |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Polluted land showing rusty old
oil cans |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Dead otter recovered after Exxon
Valdez Alaskan oil spill |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Pollution pouring from a dredge
pipe |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Fish kill after pollution spill |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Pollution thrown by the side of
a highway |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Air pollution coming from a
smokestack (chimney) |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Detergent pollution in a river |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Litter pollution washed onto a
beach from the sea |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Industrial plant next to a river |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Litter pollution in a
creek/stream |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Sources of pollution: factories
and ships |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Fish kill from pollution |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Apex oil pollution spill in
Trinity Bay |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Sewage run-off pollution pouring
out from a pipe |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
 |
Irrigation wasting water |
US
Geological Survey |
 |
Agricultural chemicals
(pesticides or fertilizers) being sprayed from a tractor |
US Geological Survey |
 |
River turned brown by pollution |
US Geological Survey |
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Runoff entering a river from a
storm overflow |
US Geological Survey |
 |
Scientists test biological water
quality by catching fish and other creatures |
US Geological Survey |
 |
A factory billows out smoke (air
pollution) behind a river or lake |
US Geological Survey |
 |
Home and garden chemicals are a
source of pollution |
US Geological Survey |
 |
A sewage waste treatment plant
seen from the air |
US Geological Survey |
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Treated waste water enters a
river from a sewage treatment plant |
US Geological Survey |
 |
Satellite photo: pollution over
Mexico City |
NASA
Image Exchange |
 |
Hole in the ozone layer over
Antarctica |
NASA GRIN |
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Satellite photo: Korea and the Sea of Japan are obscured by swirls of pollution | NASA Image Exchange |
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Oil slicks off the coast of
Qatar, Persian Gulf caused by tanker movements |
NASA Image Exchange |
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Air pollution from a smokestack (chimney). Photo by DOE/NREL. Picture ref: 00560. | US
DOE/NREL |
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Traffic causing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Photo by Warren Gretz courtesy of DOE/NREL. Picture ref: 10967. | US DOE/NREL |
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Smoggy haze over Denver, Colorado. Photo by Warren Gretz courtesy of DOE/NREL. Picture ref: 10647. | US DOE/NREL |
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Smog caused by temperature inversion over Denver, Colorado. Photo by David Parsons courtesy of DOE/NREL. Picture ref: 07308. | US DOE/NREL |
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Coastal erosion caused by
jetskis. Photographer: Mary Hollinger,
NODC biologist, NOAA. |
US
NOAA Photo Library |
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Flooding caused by erosion and
extreme high tides. Photographer: Mary Hollinger,
NODC biologist, NOAA. |
US NOAA Photo Library |
 |
Dead fish floating on the
surface after Swanson Creek oil spill. Photographer: Mary Hollinger,
NODC biologist, NOAA. |
US NOAA Photo Library |
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Swan covered in oil recovered
from Swanson Creek oil spill. Photographer: Mary Hollinger,
NODC biologist, NOAA. |
US NOAA Photo Library |
 |
Volunteers help to clear trash
from the shoreline of Baltimore Harbour. Photographer: Mary Hollinger,
NODC biologist, NOAA. |
US NOAA Photo Library |
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Volunteers help to clear trash from the shoreline of Baltimore Harbour. Photographer: Mary Hollinger, NODC biologist, NOAA. | US NOAA Photo Library |
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Trash polluting a waterway.
Photographer: Dr.
James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program. |
US NOAA Photo Library |
 |
Oil emulsion floating in a
marsh, Dixon Bay. Photo by NOAA Restoration Center. |
US NOAA Photo
Library: Restoration Center |
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Old industrial site, Great Lakes. Photo by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Great Lakes National Program office. | US
EPA |
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Junk cars in Illinois River,
Peoria, Illinois. Photo by Romy Myszka, USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service. |
US EPA |
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Pollution pours from a pipe into a watercourse. Photo by US National Park Service, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. | US EPA |
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Sewage and litter pollution in the streets of
Ghazaliya, Iraq. Photo by US Army. |
Defense Visual Information Center |
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Zebra mussel (an example of an invasive species) on native mussel. Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Contaminated water flows through an above-ground pipe to a 3.5 million-dollar ground-water treatment facility, part of efforts to clean up pollution produced by the military base in past decades. Photo by Vickie M. Graham, US Air Force. | Defense
Visual Information Center |
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Possible signs of oil pollution near a refinery at Sabine Lake, Texas (TX). Photo by Lance Cheung, US Air Force. | Defense Visual Information Center |
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Possible signs of oil pollution near a refinery at Sabine Lake, Texas (TX). Photo by Lance Cheung, US Air Force. | US Air
Force |
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Satellite image of changes from
erosion, pollution, and other problems in the Mississippi Delta from
1973 to 2003. |
USGS Landsat |
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Pollution entering the Potomac River (aerial photo) | US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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21 different photo galleries here, including lots of great photos of the Exxon Valdez, Amoco Cadiz, and other notorious oil tanker spills. | US NOAA Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration |
