Visual pollution is an aesthetic issue, referring to the impacts of pollution that impair one's ability to enjoy a vista or view. The term is used broadly to cover visibility, limits on the ability to view distant objects, as well as the more subjective issue of visual clutter, structures that intrude upon otherwise "pretty" scenes, as well as graffiti and other visual defacement.

Visibility is a measure of how far and how well people can see into the distance. Haze obscures visibility. It is caused when light is absorbed or scattered by pollution particles such as sulfates, nitrates, organic carbon compounds, soot, and soil dust. Nitrogen dioxide and other pollution gases also contribute to haze. Haze increases with summer humidity because sulfate and other particles absorb moisture and increase in size. The larger the particles, the more light they scatter.

Haze is most dramatically seen as...