Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light. Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants. Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution.

Health
Adverse air quality can kill many organisms. Older people are majorly exposed to diseases induced by air pollution. Those with heart or lung disorders are at additional risk. Children and infants are also at serious risk. Ozone pollution can cause respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, throat inflammation, chest pain, and congestion.

Water pollution causes illness or death.

Oil spills can cause skin irritations and rashes. Noise pollution induces hearing loss, high blood pressure, stress, and sleep disturbance.

Mercury has been linked to developmental deficits in children and neurologic symptoms. Lead and other heavy metals have been shown to cause neurological problems. Chemical and radioactive substances can cause cancer and as well as birth defects.

Environment
Pollution has been found to be present widely in the environment. There are a number of effects of this:
 * Biomagnification describes situations where toxins (such as heavy metals) may pass through trophic levels, becoming exponentially more concentrated in the process.
 * Carbon dioxide emissions cause ocean acidification, the ongoing decrease in the pH of the planet's oceans as CO2 becomes dissolved.
 * The emission of greenhouse gases leads to global warming which affects ecosystems in many ways.
 * Invasive species can out compete native species and reduce biodiversity. Invasive plants can contribute debris and biomolecules (allelopathy) that can alter soil and chemical compositions of an environment, often reducing native species competitiveness.
 * Nitrogen oxides are removed from the air by rain and fertilise land which can change the species composition of ecosystems.
 * Smog and haze can reduce the amount of sunlight received by plants to carry out photosynthesis and leads to the production of tropospheric ozone which damages plants.
 * Soil can become infertile and unsuitable for plants. This will affect other organisms in the food web.
 * Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can cause acid rain which lowers the pH value of soil.

Solutions
The primary solution is control of pollutants into air, water or soil. If already polluted, the Union uses  terraforming technology to remove them.