Our group chose to compare two different bodies of water close to each other that is well known to the DMV area. The two bodies of water are the Great falls, and the C&O canal. Both have many tourists who walk near the water streams, however one body of water has slightly less movement, and more algae growing in it(the C&O canal). The Great Falls is inside the second largest tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, its natural resources are also an important part of the larger bay ecosystem. Much of the C&O canal “preserves floodplain forest and wetlands that contribute to the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay”(Nature). The wetlands can act as a "sponge," slowing down the flow of water during floods. We chose to test these two locations of water
Between 1491 and 1754, the New England, middle, Chesapeake, and southern colonies developed in a way such that they must be viewed as four distinct societies with interlacing interactions and beliefs. These different societies were shaped by the different labor systems and economic characteristics, varying groups of religious founders, and response to salutary neglect and British taxation.
The Crusades of the middle ages introduced much innovative and formerly unheard of merchandise into Western Europe; however the scarcity of these luxury goods instilled Europeans with drive to find easier access to the Far East. Although desired "Northwest Passage" never was found, joint-stock companies, like the Virginia Company of London, settled colonies in the New World for untapped resources such as silver and other tradable goods. Many more corporations followed suit, settling mainly in the Chesapeake Bay area, their small settlements eventually developing into the Chesapeake colonies. The Chesapeake colonies were focused primarily on profitable enterprises. At the same time, the New England colonies were being settled with a whole different set of initiatives, principally religious freedoms and family. Governing bodies were established, with their success dependent on the quality of the settlers the colony attracted. The different motives for settlement affected the routine events in such a way that the New England and Chesapeake colonies differed very greatly from one another even though they were both mainly settled by the English.
During colonial times, European nations quickly colonized the New World years after Columbus’ so called discovery. England in particular sent out a number of groups to the east coast of the New World to two regions. These areas were the New England and the Chesapeake regions. Later in the late 1700s, these two regions would go though many conflicts to come together as one nation. Yet, way before that would occur; these two areas developed into two distinct societies. These differences affected the colonies socially, economically, and politically.
One of the two first colonies established in the new world was The Chesapeake Bay colonies which included Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The second was the Massachusetts Bay colonies including what now is the present-day central New England, portions of the U.S. states of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The colonies are very similar but also different in their own distinct ways. The differences gave the colonies identities. A big resemblance between the colonies is that both left to create a new life out of England. Both settlements represented a new time of independence and development of religion. Mutually both groups went through a lot of suffering and pain in the accomplishment of such
During the 1700's, people in the American colonies lived in very distinctive societies. While some colonists led hard lives, others were healthy and prosperous. The two groups who showed these differences were the colonists of the New England and Chesapeake Bay areas. The differentiating characteristics among the Chesapeake and New England colonies developed due to economy, religion, and motives for colonial expansion. The colonists of the New England area possessed a very happy and healthy life. This high way of living was due in part to better farming, a healthier environment, and a high rate of production because of more factories. The colonists of the Chesapeake Bay region, on the other hand, led harder lives compared to that of the colonists of New England. The Chesapeake Bay had an unhealthy environment, bad eating diets, and intolerable labor.
A community is a group of people who work together towards a common goal and share a common interest. Lack of such a quality can and most likely will cause a struggling town or city to fall into the extremes of poverty and wealth. The New England community was so strong and so supportive in comparison to that of the Chesapeake Bay, that it is no wonder they developed into two distinctly different cultures before the year 1700. The Chesapeake region developed into a land of plantations and money-driven owners, with the elite wealthy, almost no middle class, and those in poverty creating the population. New England, on the other hand, had developed into a religion and family based society comprised of mostly middle class families by 1700. Looking at the terrain, ethic, government, and even the people themselves, reveals clues about how the drastic split in society came to be. It was one America, but two distinct societies had developed in it by the 1700's.
During the 1600's, many people in the American colonies led very many different lives, some better than others. While life was hard for some groups, other colonists were healthy and happy. Two groups that display such a difference are the colonists of New England and Chesapeake Bay. New Englanders enjoyed a much higher standard of living. This high standard of New England's was due to many factors, including a healthier environment, better family situation, and a high rate of reproduction.
The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary with six major tributaries, the James, the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Patuxent, the York, and the Rappahannock Rivers, feeding into the bay from various locations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia (Chemical Contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay – Workshop Discussion 1). These areas depend on the Bay as both an environmental and an economic resource. Throughout the last 15 years the Chesapeake Bay has suffered from elevated levels of pollution. Nitrogen and phosphorous from wastewater treatment plants, farmland, air pollution, and development all lead to reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, which harm fish, crabs, oysters and underwater grasses (Key Commission Issues 1). There are other types of pollution in the bay such as toxic chemicals, but because nutrient pollution is the most significant and most widespread in the Bay its effects are the most harmful to fisheries. Nitrogen and phosphorous fuel algal blooms which cloud the water and block sunlight from reaching underwater grass beds that provide food and habitat for waterfowl, juvenile fish, blue crabs, and other species (Blankenship 11-12). Algae plays a vital role in the food chain by providing food for small fish and oysters. However, when there is an overabundance of algae it dies, sinks to the bottom of the Bay, and decomposes in such a manner that depletes the oxygen levels of the Bay (11). The reduced oxygen levels in the Bay reduce the carrying capacity of the environment and these “dead areas” sometimes kill off species that can not migrate to other areas of the Bay, such as oysters (11). Increased abundance of algal blooms also led to the overabundance of harmful and toxic algae species and microbes such as the microbe Pfiesteria, which was responsible in 1997 for eating fish alive and making dozens of people sick (12). The heightened awareness of diseases that can be contracted through consumption of contaminated fish also has an economic impact. Therefore, the excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorous have fueled an overabundance of algal blooms, which has reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, affecting many species within the bay and ultimately the industries that rely on these species.
Introduction The Chesapeake Bay is a large estuary located on the east coast of the United States. The bay is over 200 miles long and goes through Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The bay has much to offer the locals. Many locals have made a career out of harvesting the bay's sea food.
Overview of the Issue: The Great Lakes Basin comprising of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario make up the largest surface freshwater system on Earth and holds one-fifth of the world's supply of freshwater. To visualize this, " if only the Earth were flat and the lakes adaptable as buckets, there'd be enough H20 here to flood all the land of the Western Hemisphere under two feet of water" according to J. Mitchell. Each day, four trillion litres of water are pumped from the Great Lakes. As natural influences as well as human factors are putting tremendous pressures on this water system, the water levels are dropping at an alarming rate. The falling water levels present an enormous environmental impact to thousands of species of plant and wildlife and to the 45 million inhabitants who dwell in the Great Lakes area according to the Council of Canadians. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are the two lakes that have been the most affected.
The English Settlement in the New World was largely the result of the Age of Exploration. The English started emigrated to the New World around the early 1600s; they settles in regions including the New England and the Chesapeake region and by the 18th century these two regions had developed their own society. These two regions had developed different political, economic and social system in their regions. The political differences were due to who governs the colony. The economic differences were due to the motives of the settlement. The social differences were due to the people who settled there, while the New England emigrated as a family, the Chesapeake emigrated with mostly male.
During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, European nations rapidly colonized the newly discovered Americas. England in particular sent out numerous groups to the eastern coast of North America to two regions. These two regions were known as the Chesapeake and the New England areas. Later, in the late 1700's, these two areas would bond to become one nation. Yet from the very beginnings, both had very separate and unique identities. These differences, though very numerous, spurred from one major factor: the very reason the settlers came to the New World. This affected the colonies in literally every way, including economically, socially, and politically.
“The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity . . . that’s all there is” (Gaylord). Throughout the recent decades, the wealth of the Chesapeake Bay and adjacent rivers have been affected by a phenomenon called eutrophication. that occurs when there is an excess of a nutrient limited in the water, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments (Eney 2009). Those nutrients are naturally good in the environment since they help the bottom of the food chain, but a lot is not always good, and the Chesapeake Bay has been receiving too much of these nutrients during the last years. This causes an explosion of growth an algae (algae bloom). Since algae are photosynthetic their life after the eutrophication occurs is very short. Many algae die without being eaten by the primary consumers and the one that remains without eating after dying begins to decompose, leaving at the bottom of the water an anoxic zone "dead zone" where there is no oxygen for the organisms that live there to survive.
...n, the Louisiana wetlands are an extremely valuable asset to the State of Louisiana and the United States. The continual loss of Louisiana wetlands has the potential to have an immensely negative effect on the economy at a state and national level. Over 2 million people live in the Louisiana coastal parishes (Field et al., 1991). The majority of people living on the Louisiana coast make their living from things that are directly related to the wetlands. The Louisiana wetlands make up the largest wetland community in America and is being lost at a rate greater than the other wetland communities in the country. The suggested strategies that are being taken into consideration could be helpful but it seems that the State of Louisiana is not as concerned as it should be given the future consequences and much like climate change coastal erosion is not being taken serious.
Smith, Zachary A., and Grenetta Thomassey. Freshwater Issues: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Print