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Pollution in Chesapeake Bay

explanatory Essay
1862 words
1862 words
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Chesapeake Bay Television commercials, print ads, and billboards in the Washington, DC, area are asking residents to connect two things many might find unrelated: lawn care and seafood. In one commercial, a man stuffs a big plateful of grass in his mouth after a voice-over says, “Spring rains carry excess lawn fertilizers through our sewers and rivers and into the Chesapeake Bay, where the blue crab harvest has been extremely low. So skip the fertilizer until fall, because once they’re gone, what’s left to enjoy?”(Environment, p. 7) This ad is directed to many people in the Chesapeake Bay region because there are tons of pollution each year that are destroying the nation’s largest estuary, or part of a body of water where the fresh and salt water mix, and are also killing the Bay’s crabs, oysters, and fish, which is a huge industry in the area and also something the state of Maryland is known nationally for (Environment, p. 8). Pollution is destroying the Chesapeake Bay every single day, however now people are taking steps in the right direction to fix this problem but many people fear that time has run out. The amazing part about the steps being taken to try to save the Chesapeake Bay is how much scientists and people who carry out legislation in the local and state governments are working together to try and create policies on businesses and people to cut back on the problems in the Bay. Scientists have given an unthinkable amount of attention to the Bay of the past several years and researchers from countless numbers of agencies and institutions have dove deep into the issues and studying every nook and cranny to create answers to every politicians’ questions. The biggest concern with the Bay, and the most concentrated ... ... middle of paper ... ...us estimates about what a proper cleanup would cost from $1 billion to $30 billion, with most estimates hovering around $15 billion.” That is a lot of money. To go as far as bumper stickers and billboards just might be too much for the public to handle though. The Chesapeake Bay’s slogan of “Save the Bay” is on everything they produce. I would never call a body of water “dead” especially one that has been so instrumental to the development of this area. The Chesapeake Bay can still be restored and become a profitable, beautiful bay. I just thing time has already run out. Reference Brown, Kathryn S. “Changing Chesapeake.” Bioscience 46.6 (1996): 397. Powledge, Fred. “Chesapeake Bay Restoration: A Model of What?” Bioscience 55.12 (2005): 1032-1038 “Restoring the Chesapeake Bay.” Population Reports 26.1 (1998): 26. “Save the Bay.” Environment 40.4 (1998): 21.

In this essay, the author

  • Explains that television commercials, print ads, and billboards in the washington, dc, area are asking residents to connect lawn care and seafood.
  • Explains that the chesapeake bay region is ravaged by tons of pollution each year, which kills crabs, oysters and fish. people are taking steps to fix the problem but fear that time has run out.
  • Opines that the amazing part about the steps being taken to try to save the chesapeake bay is how much scientists and people who carry out legislation in the local and state governments are working together to create policies on businesses.
  • Explains that scientists have given an unthinkable amount of attention to the bay of the past several years and researchers from countless agencies and institutions have dove deep into the issues and studied every nook and cranny to create answers to every politicians’ questions.
  • Explains the complex problems that face the chesapeake bay, including phosphorus, nitrogen, algae, and grasses on the seafloor.
  • Opines that the chesapeake bay was not out of trouble by only having to deal with the problems of the nutrients runoff.
  • Explains that more than fifty-percent of its wetlands and watersheds forests had been destroyed, including animal and human wastes and agricultural fertilizers.
  • Opines that the baltimore-washington d.c. area is considered a wonderful area by most and is also visited by millions every year.
  • Explains that the chesapeake bay foundation's annual report rated the water quality at an all-time low, which is not good for industry.
  • Explains that the fish in the chesapeake bay and itstributaries are stuffed with pcbs, mercury, and other contaminants. millions of dollars have been spent and progress to save the bay is not being made.
  • Explains that the chesapeake bay is one of america's enduring cultural and historically treasure. millions of dollars have been poured into projects, research groups, and agencies to fix the problems with the bay.
  • Explains that the large-scale model of the chesapeake bay has not been the only attempt at saving it. the environmental protection agency put in place a $27 million dollar study that would research the bay’s environment.
  • Describes the 1983 chesapeake bay agreement, signed by the governors of maryland, virginia, and pennsylvania, the mayor of the district of columbia and the epa administration.
  • Explains that the chesapeake bay agreement had begun to give detailed information on what was going to be done to restore the beauty of the bay.
  • Explains that pfisteria piscidia brought massive fish kills in several bay tributaries and sickness to some watermen. many observers suspected a connection between the organism and the vast quantities of manure that pour off factory chicken farms.
  • Explains that the large volume of manure that deposited itself into the water was from the huge chicken farms off maryland's eastern shore.
  • Opines that the chesapeake bay can still be restored and become a profitable, beautiful bay.
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