Air pollution is worsening. Rapid expansion of chemical industry. Pesticide use is high. Partial sewage treatment if any. Local effects are seen when volumes of pollutants were small and they were similar to natural substances.
Global effects are due to the large scale usage.
See below for details. Regarding the newly observed global effects, these can be seen in the realms of air pollution, the ozone layer and a global climate change due to the greenhouse effect. Acid rain, occurring when the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide from fossil fuel combustion are converted chemically within the atmosphere to sulfuric acid and nitric acid, is a major problem in many areas of the world, especially Europe and North America. In fact, scientists have linked the thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica to the global use of CFC's. In the late 70's, this lead to a banning of nonessential use of CFC's in Canada, U.S.A. and Sweden, which is a step in the right direction.