Photos of pollution for students
Last updated: April 28, 2024.
Looking for photos of water and air pollution to illustrate your school or college project? You've come to the right place. We've collected together a mini "photo library" of about 60 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:
- What is water pollution?: Our basic introduction.
- Introduction to water pollution: a basic overview of the whole subject from Explain that Stuff.
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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Apex oil pollution spill in Trinity Bay |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Oil-well drilling pollution |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Polluted land showing rusty old oil cans |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Pollution pouring from a dredge
pipe |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Dead otter recovered after Exxon Valdez Alaskan oil spill |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Fish kill after pollution spill |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Fish kill from pollution |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Scientists counting and measuring fish killed by a pollution spill |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Duck killed by oil pollution |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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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 |
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Pollution thrown by the side of a highway |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Sources of pollution: factories and ships |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Industrial plant next to a river |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Detergent pollution in a river |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Litter pollution washed onto a beach from the sea |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Litter pollution in a creek/stream |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Litter pollution in a wetland area |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Trash polluting a waterway.
Photographer: Dr.
James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program. |
US NOAA Photo Library |
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Industrial pollution pouring out from a pipe |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Irrigation runoff |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Agricultural chemicals (pesticides or fertilizers) being sprayed from an airplane |
US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service |
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Pesticide pollution from a crop-duster helicopter |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Reducing the need for irrigation and fertilizer use |
US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service |
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Crop-spraying tractor may be causing pollution |
US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service |
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Crop-spraying airplane may be causing pollution |
US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service |
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The dangers of spraying pesticides and the benefits of using less-harmful alternatives | US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service |
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Algal bloom on a bayou caused by fertilizer run-off |
US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service |
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Algae Accumulation, Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Pollution caused by barge traffic, tankers, and shipping | US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Pollution sign warning about the dangers of contaminated fish and waterfowl |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Pollution caused by runoff from sand and gravel mines into rivers and watercourses. |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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Satellite photo: pollution over
Mexico City |
NASA
Image Exchange |
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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 coming from a smokestack (chimney) |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
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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 |
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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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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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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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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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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 |
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Collecting video evidence of run-off from an acid mine |
US Fish & Wildlife Service |
