thermal pollution

American  

noun

1. a rise in the temperature of rivers or lakes that is injurious to water-dwelling life and is caused by the disposal of heated industrial waste water or water from the cooling towers of nuclear power plants.

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thermal pollution Cultural  

1. The dumping of heated gas es or heated wastewater (often from electrical generating plants) into the air or water.

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Thermal pollution of the air can affect the weather; thermal pollution of water can threaten plants or animals living in it.

Example Sentences

The activity of traffic, businesses, and people on Cardiff's streets has caused what has been described as "thermal pollution", meaning water underground is unusually warm - around 12 degrees.

From BBC • Nov. 5, 2025

This inverse relation between temperature and dissolved gas concentration is responsible for one of the major impacts of thermal pollution in natural waters.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

But a special target were always Con Ed’s Hudson River power plants whose thermal pollution attracted and killed large numbers of fish.

From New York Times • Apr. 14, 2015

But they also created that leverage, by seeing to it that thermal pollution was included in the Clean Water Act as a form of pollution.

From New York Times • Apr. 14, 2015

And, conservationists' lawsuits have slowed the construction of nuclear power plants, which may cause thermal pollution and radiation dangers.

From Time Magazine Archive