4. What impact do you think the presence of multiple types of hazardous waste will have on the ability of investigators to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between specific chemicals and adverse (negative) biological changes in Tidal Bay? A number of measurements were used to quantify contaminant impact on the ecosystem. These include several bioassay species, benthic community composition, bioaccumulation, and fish histopathology.…
At the end of the day, there are several other methods and projects that can lead to economic prosperity that do not necessarily threaten an entire marine population. Also, if there is anything that I have learned from my environmental science classes (or even remember), is that every living creature is not only dependent on another organism but another organism is dependent on it. In other words, all creatures depend on one another in this complex web of life. Thus, I am very grateful for the Endangerment Species Act and what it stands for. Lastly, the biggest lesson that can be learned from this case is that we need to stand up for our environment’s health, and all of its components, over all other tempting advances.…
Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. By 1980, the Chesapeake Bay was severly polluted with toxic industrial chemicals. The Chesapeke Bay is threatened with several environmental problems. A huge problem is the pollution its driving the animals away and killing them. It's getting to a point where if people don't try to help the bay will never be the same. The bay involves the hydrosphere because the water is getting contaminated and is effecting everyting in the water and near it. One solution that could possibly work is trying not to do things that causes pollution like driving or not properly…
The environmental problem that is most significant in our town, as well as several others, is the depletion of natural resources. The cause of this was the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20th, 2010. Our environmental ethics were compromised when greed over took what was best for the environment. Our state’s ethics were compromised when we took pay-offs to look the other way and alter reports. It snowballed in effect and people were not educated by the media, federal, and or local government in that people did not know how much damage it truly has caused. The oil spill had a larger impact than people realized. It affected not only our wildlife and fisheries, but every industry throughout the state of Louisiana, and other surrounding states. This oil spill is considered the “largest oils spill in the U.S. history that continues to devastate our wildlife while the press and independent scientists are continually denied access to the spill site and surrounding beaches. (Malik, 2010)” This was also the largest man made catastrophe in the history of the United States. Our human values were also compromised along with our ethics when the politicians sold out the people of the state of Louisiana for monetary gain, not recognizing how truly detrimental it was to our people, industry, and overall way of life. Some of the other major ethical questions surrounding the spill involve moral and legal obligations we might have to wildlife and above all the environment (Malik, 2010). We still do not know the extent of damage that has occurred and continues to occur.…
There have been attempts for decades to clean up the Bay, but any expert would eagerly tell you that there is more to it than that. In order to keep the Chesapeake Bay healthy, you have to start with eliminating pollution in the entire watershed. If we are to rebuild the population of Maryland Blue Crabs, oysters and rockfish, we have to start small. The numbers that we have lost over the past thirty years are outstanding. Since the 1980s the oyster population alone has decreased by 70%. The sewage lines that dump into the watershed, the fertilizer and other agricultural run-off are the biggest issues causing the decline in the Bay’s health, and subsequently the tourism on the Eastern Shore that depends so heavily on the watershed (Woodward, December…
Our Chesapeake Bay policy is about buffer zones. We think that buffer zones should be implemented in rivers and streams that contribute to the Chesapeake Bay. If we add buffer zones it can stop eutrophication which has already created dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay. Dead zones are areas in the bay that have no oxygen and can’t support life. Also, buffer zones also anchor soil to the ground which prevents sediment pollution that can block sunlight killing hundreds of plants and animals. The final problem buffer zones can fix, is flooding, it can stop flooding in rivers and streams that can be damaging to homes and ecosystems. In total implementing buffer zones would fix 3 major problems with one simple…
The significant pollution effort to control the amount of pollution that enters the estuary has been noticed. There are still many issues that need attention. As humans continue to effect the pollution levels within the estuary, through trash and plastic trash end up in streams and creeks and rivers that are connected to the estuary. This continues to impact the water quality, organisms within and surrounding the estuary, the agriculture pollutions and urban runoff have always been an issue and still remains one of the biggest producers of pollution in the San Francisco estuary. Human waste, personal byproducts and pharmaceuticals are a new breed of pollution that has caused concerns. The waste water plants have upgraded to manage the waste that ends up in the water ways, the operation has not been able to contain all of the pollution that comes through the waste water plant leaving traces of pollutions still entering the estuary regions. There has been much progress over the years as resulting into government parks and preservation areas being established in this program. The endangered species that are flourishing from mussels and crab species that would have been extinct, are improving population in this system. New plant life is being planted and the education of how to preserve the areas has drawn many to volunteer to help maintain the estuary for future generations. This type of program makes a big difference in preserving habitats, species and water systems, along with building a better ecosystem that benefits all…
Runoff is a problem when farmers use too much nitrogen on their crops to help them grow and the excess nitrogen flows into creek and other bodies of water when it rains. This excess nitrogen causes more algae to grow in an algae bloom, which causes the bacteria that eats this algae to multiply as well and use up all the oxygen in the ecosystem. This leaves other organisms to die in the process called eutrophication. Another way that humans can affect a water ecosystem is by littering near or even far away from a body of water. Wind, runoff, and other conditions can carry the rubbish, such as plastic bags, bottles, and paper, into the creek which decomposes over time and leaves harmful chemicals and gases. These dangerous pollutants can decrease the water quality and cause organisms to die (Umgeni Water Amanzi). Overall, humans can impact water ecosystems in a lot of…
While nitrogen and phosphorous is common in the Chesapeake Bay, it has been steadily increasing over the last few decades. According to the EPA, “prior to substantial human activity in the region, most nitrogen and phosphorous was absorbed or retained by the natural forest and wetland vegetation” (EPA). As more vegetation is being cut down and replaced by farms and cities, the amount of these compounds is increasing and it’s raising concerns over water quality. Since it’s affecting the water quality, it is affecting the lives of the species living around it such as the fish and the…
The Chesapeake Bay receives excessive nutrients that can create low levels of dissolved oxygen for the fish. Two causes of eutrophication in the bay are from the use of fertilizers on residential lawns, commercial properties making their lawns look green and weed free and from farms using chemicals to control the growth of weeds, plants and animal waste run-off. Air pollution from internal combustion engines and factories also increases the nitrogen levels.…
Not only does this issue affect humans and our future generations by the means of water, air and energy conservation, it greatly affects who we share out ecosystem with. Ecosystems connected to Georgia’s shores that are at risk are, Tital freshwater marsh, Cypress-Tupelo forest, and some islands such as Jekyll, Carrs and Egg.…
“Fertilizers from farms and urban centers release chemical pollutants that make their way into the Everglades’ system.” The pollutants impact has made changes in vegetation and are harmful to the plants and animals. Eutrophication (the overgrowth of plant and algal species due to excess nutrients) was harming the Everglades’ vegetation. “Scientists linked phosphorus to the eutrophication problem, and phosphorus quickly became the scapegoat for all of the Everglades’ troubles with water quality.” Phosphorus contaminated the water, flowing into the Everglades, giving weeds more nutrients to flourish and kill off other plants. The water become contaminated by pollutants from the runoff of wetland sprayed with fertilizers. “During the 1980s and 1990s, there were sporadic reports of high levels of mercury in fish caught in the Everglades.” Mercury is very toxic and increases most in wildlife. This affected the birds and humans that were consuming the fish. Pregnant women were warned not to ingest any of the contaminated fish. The mercury put fish-eating wildlife at risk, especially the wading birds. The quality of the water would increase as a result of farmers reducing the amount of fertilizers and harmful chemicals they use in the soil because it causes soil…
This seems to all lead back to runoff, The causes of the blooms are excess nitrogen, and phosphorus. This is like steroids for these microorganism. What it does is it brings the population of the algae up to a certain extent , then it crashes due to the fact that there is no more nutrients. It seems that the nitrogen, and phosphorus is coming from farm fields, and fertilisation. This happens when there is a major rain storm which picks up all of the fertilizer, garbage, and other harmful substances that cause this problem. Roads act as slides for these harmfull pollutants that all seem to lead straight to the waterways. This can be a huge problem because the more urbanisation and building that an area can go through there will be less land to suak up the harmful and destructive types algae. These blooms really screw up the water quality of chesapeake bay, they end up consuming almost all of the oxygen until there isn't any and then everything dies. This is obviously a huge problem. No body know how long that water body will withstand these torturous and extreme die offs, and blooms. According to http://www.chesapeakebay.net/blog/post/the_abcs_of_habs_how_harmful_algal_blooms_impact_the_bay residents are currently trying to drive less, upgradeing septic systems, picking up pet waste, and not useing fertilizerser on there…
Capitalism is the root of exploitation all around the world especially the colonized countries. Domitila Barrios De Chungara, a Bolivian woman, along with Moema Viezzer wrote the book Let Me Speak to illustrate and provide a deep understanding of the revolution and the living conditions of the miners and their family in Bolivia. Capitalism is an economic and political system which is central to modernism and ruled the countries that depended on industrialized countries like the United States. Domitila Barrios De Chungara is a courageous woman who sacrifices so much in the struggle to better the condition of the poor working class. Chungara despises the exploitative and repressive aspect of capitalism and unites her compañeras and their compañeros…
This assignment required standing in a relatively busy place and do absolutely nothing for the duration of ten minutes. After considering where it would be best to do this assignment, I chose the Promenade mall in Temecula as my location. I stood near the movie theatre entrance on Friday evening around six thirty.…