The hippopotamus is a very unique and interesting species. I don't believe that
pollution is a major factor when it comes to the affect on Hippopotamuses in east Africa.
Pollution is a major factor when it comes to life on many places in the world. However, I
don't believe that pollution necessarily affects Africa as much as it does other parts of
the world such as, for an example, California.
Many people believe that pollution is killing animals world wide. To some extent
this is actually true, but not specifically everywhere in the world. In California, pollution is
a humungous factor on the life that lives there on the land, flying in the sky, and even
living in the water. Plastic is one main factor in pollution. When people don't recycle
plastic it gets thrown into huge piles in an excluded area. Plastic is non-degradable so it
won't deteriorate over time. The plastic that gets thrown out unto the coastline drifts into
the ocean affecting the animal life in the sea. Birds and fish are ingesting little pieces of
plastic while trying to feed off of zooplankton. For every 6 pounds of pollution there is
only 1 pound of zooplankton.
Unlike California, Africa does not have nearly as big of a pollution problem. One
major factor is that the population is extremely less dense then that of California. There
are about 5,000 people per square mile in the heavily populated areas of California
where as there are only 500 people per square mile in the few heavily populated areas
of Africa. There are not too many Hippopotamuses in the north-western areas of the
Kilian Diers
Marine Biology
Mr. Girod
May 16, 2014
continent, but are many more in the south-eastern regions. Since the human population
is smal...
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...for the food chain, particularly for fish," says WWF's Marc Lunguy. If the
hippopotamus species would go instinct, the first loss would be the people in the region
who strive off of fish for their livelihoods.
The territory of hippopotamuses is pretty basic. They stay close to the water,
while never exceeding a max of 6 miles from the nearest water source while grazing. At
one time, they lived all across Africa, but are now extinct in northern and southern
Africa. Basically, the only part of Africa that hosts the soon to be extinct animal is
Eastern Africa. Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda are the most commonly
known cities to host hippos. They live in herds that range from 10 all the way to 150
which are mostly females and their offspring. They are led by the dominant male hippos
who battle often, which is sometimes fatal, to be leader.
This pollution problem is so ubiquitous plastic can be found throughout the marine environment from coastlines to near shore lagoons to remote ocean hotspots where plastics caught up in marine currents. And gathered up into huge garbage patches that swirl
There is a lot of trash that can get into the ocean, like glass bottles, aluminum cans, and
Pollution is a worldwide catastrophe that contaminates or destroys every living and non-living thing in its path. The earth is designed to constantly balance itself allowing plant and animal life the ability to thrive. Unfortunately when bombarded with chemicals, heavy metals and unnatural human waste, the earth exceeds its critical load and irreversible damage occurs. There are literally thousands of areas that have been negatively effected by the numerous types of pollution. To date there are over four thousand lakes alone where wildlife and human use ceases to exist. Pollution reeks such havoc on communities because it "knows no boundaries." Even if one country implements tough emission laws, a neighboring country's pollution may continue destroying its resources.
“By using a 100 km-long floating barrier to let the ocean currents concentrate the plastic themselves and is deployed for ten years it will be able to removed forty-two percent of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch” (The Ocean Cleanup). However, this technology is still in its pilot stages and will be deployed to ensure success of this method in August 2016. So how will this barrier collect the plastic? The plastic will be stored in an internal buffer, a machine that stores and collects plastic, which will need to be emptied every five months. With the plastic collected it will be used to make new objects that can be made from plastic. If the pilot does well and collects the plastic like it’s suppose to do, a bigger floating barrier will be made to be put in five different gyres around the
Pearce, Fred. "Poaching Causes Hippo Population Crash." - Environment. 29 Aug. 2003. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. .
...stic breaks down into smaller bits that are not as easy to spot. These small pieces are then consumed by the oceans small organisms that are also the bottom of the oceans food chain. Once it enters the ocean food chain, plastic and its toxins can then be transferred to humans through the ingestion of seafood. The Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean are home to many different bird species including the world’s largest number of albatrosses. Plastic items and waste materials are washed onto shore and mistaken by the birds as food. A wildlife manager by the name of Matt Brown cut open a dead albatross and found the contents of its stomach to have a large amount of plastic items including a part of a toothbrush, a bottle cap, and pieces of an old fishing net. Brown agrees with most scientists that it is going to take effort from society as a whole to fix this issue.
When most people think about what is wrong with the environment, they can think of many things wrong with it. The amount of pollution that has either enter the air, land, or the ground. The amount of pollution within the air has been constantly been caused by humans doing a lot of activities that release a lot of carbon emissions. Activities such as deforestation of trees, the uses of automotive cars, and factories producing so much smog on a daily basis. With all of these activities, much of the air quality is poor and can cause many health problems for humans. As stated EPA, “Breathing polluted air can make your eyes and nose burn. It can irritate your throat and make breathing difficult” (EPA 4).
M., Gutierrez…). This is something that the Marine Debris Program is looking to eliminate. By removing the plastic from the water, and preventing it from leaking its chemicals, the eating of the plastic in general, and the prospect of these plastics being breeding grounds for dangerous pathogens, the marine environment would be safer for animals and humans alike. So, it is clear, the removal of this harmful debris, specifically plastic is something that must be done through this Citizen Science
These amazing animals could be found in central African region but because of habitat destruction and constant threats from people over the last 70 years, their numbers have decreased to around 950 ( Aldred , Nov 2012 ,The guardian ).
As the population in the world keeps increasing so does the unwanted and unusable materials called, waste. Most of the garbage consumption which we dispose in our day to lives ends up in landfills; some of it also ends up in the natural environment one being the Ocean. A current study released this month by USA Today shows the world’s largest collection of ocean garbage.”The sea surface of this oceanic region is now dominated by polyethylene and polypropylene pieces substantially outweighing other artificial and natural floating debris” (L. Lebreton)
For the poacher, the hippo is an easy target. They stay together for long hours
Plastic bags are seen to create many environmental challenges because of their physical and chemical properties. Due to its molecular structure and its inability to rapidly biodegrade, littered plastic bag breaks down into smaller pieces from exposure to natural elements. These microscopic particles can take up to 1000 years to break down (United Nations Environment Programme, 2005), which creates a long list of challenges. Firstly, plastic bags litter the landscape. After they serve their purpose, a large quantity of them go into disposal areas. Each year a high percentage of plastic bags are resulting in littering the environment. Once they become litter, plastic bags find their way into water tubes, waterways, beaches, parks, and streets. In a similar way, U.S National Academy of Sciences (2006) wrote in their fund report that the real reason that the world’s landfills weren’t overflowing with plastic bags was because most of it ended up in ocean-fills. In a like manner, Bags find their way into the sea via drains and sewage pipes (CNN.com/technology, 2007).
Plastic is used everywhere around us, but as humans, we are skeptical OF its negative effects on the environment and our lives (Plastic not so fantastic, 2009). Plastic is a widespread commodity in our contemporary world. Although humans are civilized in different aspects, they are skeptical of certain things that do not affect their lives directly. Yet, they cannot disregard the consequences of using plastic on the environment. Moore (2014) stated in his article that “Plastics are now one of the most common pollutants of ocean waters worldwide.” Yet, many are blind to the bitter fact that plastic leads to the death of marine animals and destroys the future behind the excessive usage of it. The following essay will focus on plastic usage and
Pollution is so harmful to human beings. Polluted water can cause many kinds of diseases, such as diarrhea, enteritis, and so on. And sometimes the diseases even take man’s life. Dirty air or air-borne garbage causes stinging eyes and running nose. Pollutants are destructive. They will cause runs in stockings and crack rubber tires and they always eat away at stone and rust iron. Time and time again, there are serious accidents that polluted the air. For example, At 1986 there was a bad accident at a nuclear power station in Russia. A cloud of radiation crossed the whole Europe. It is said that 125,000 people died in Russia as a result of illnesses caused by that accident. In 1984 there was an accident at a factory in India and a dangerous cloud gas covered the town of Bhopal. Over 2,500 people were killed that night, and hundreds and thousands of people were injured. Many of the injured lost their sight, and it really dangerous, even in our imagination.
in populations especially in East and West Africa. This is mainly due to habitat loss