Final answer:
Air pollution from industrial activities is an example of a negative externality because it imposes health and cleanup costs on society that are not compensated by the polluting firm.
Step-by-step explanation:
An environmental science situation with a negative externality is air pollution from industrial activities affecting public health. Pollution as a negative externality can be described using economic terms where social costs that include the private costs of a company's production and the external costs of pollution that are passed on to society. For instance, a steel manufacturing firm that emits pollutants into the air causes health and cleanup costs that are not borne by the firm itself but by the public. Such activities can result in increased respiratory illnesses and other health issues among nearby populations, representing a disconnection between the economic costs of production and the environmental and health costs experienced by society. Here, the negative externality is the unintended consequences—an increase in public health issues—suffered by third parties due to the industrial actions of the manufacturing firm.