It is extremely important to know exactly how water pollution occurs to know how it is affecting our lives as well as nature and animals. First off, there are two different ways that the earth’s water becomes polluted (“Water Pollution Causes”). The first category is Point source. This happens when harmful contaminants are directly emitted into a body of water. This is usually regulated and monitored. The second category, Non-point source pollution, is much harder to monitor. This contamination occurs when pollutants are emitted into our water from transport and environmental changes. An example of Point source pollution would be an oil spill from a boat, where the oil goes directly into the water. Where a source of Non-point source pollution would be the use of harmful pesticides. These chemicals soak into the ground, where there exists a natural source of groundwater, and they run into streams as well as rivers, contaminating the freshwater that we drink. The pollution of water has now become a serious environmental problem, and has not only been affecting nature, but as well our health and the economy of Quebec. Diagram 1 illustrates what percentage of Quebec’s water is used for specific areas.
The government of Quebec has now stated that “surface water and groundwater are part of the common heritage of the Quebec nation, and safe water is a human right” (“Great Lakes Law”). But there is only one problem with this: the world is running out of water. The government of Quebec has taken note that water management will be one of the most important issues of the 21st century. One of the biggest problems right now that our freshwater is facing is the threat of blue-green algae. Blue-green algae have been around for t...
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... affected by this. Each province that has jurisdiction over the Great Lakes have to publish a fish advisory every year, just to make sure that the water is not too contaminated. These contaminants can be spread through drinking the water, can cause sickness and skin infections.
Desalination, not being a perfect process, is not enough to save the world’s water from too much pollution. These harmful chemicals can build up over time to the point that we will not be able to extract them completely to make water suitable for human use. Certain areas are being more affected by this contamination than others, but most of these bodies of water run into each other. Our usage of harmful chemicals is only contributing to the pollution of our water, and this affects us and causes many other environmental issues, all of which need to be regulated, and eventually stopped.
Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable. GLRPPR, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. .
"Water Pollution." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.
The algal growths in the lake feed on phosphorus mostly caused by fertilizer runoff from farms and local residences. Microcystin, a toxin that causes liver problems, is produced by the growths have caused major health concerns for wildlife and people using the lake. It is our moral obligation to clean up this mess or it will continue to harm the wildlife and environment in and the lake, as we are the one’s solely responsible for it. Organizations such as the Ohio EPA and Buckeye Lake for Tomorrow, have taken a notice to the pollution of Buckeye Lake and are formulating plans to return the lake to its former glory. Our plan is to provide a short term solution for the lake via the process of dredging, while a much larger and permanent solution is put in
'Water pollution is any chemical, physical or biological change in the quality of water that has a harmful effect on any living thing that drinks or uses or lives(in) it. ' (Azeem 1). In Canada, most people live in the southern part along with many agricultural and industrial activities causing the worst cases of water pollution. Water pollution is caused by population growth and industrialization, but can be prevented if proper controls are taken into consideration to help reduce the discharge of waste materials. Water pollution has been a huge disadvantaging concern for humans as well as wildlife for over many decades, but can actually be prevented if attempted. Preventing waste materials from being dumped into lakes and rivers, controlling
Toxic substances and Areas of concern: includes pollution prevention, clean up of the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes. Although many so...
The presence of excess nutrients in fresh water bodies can breed bacteria that can kill both livestock and humans if not properly filtered and sanitized. This is particularly problematic in areas that do not have access to clean water such as developing countries. The presence of excess nutrients in water supplies can cause sickness in humans that exacerbates the issues of poverty across the globe. In addition, to humans becoming sick, “Mass mortalities of wildlife have been attributed to cyanobacterial blooms (Dodds et al., 2008). These deaths can be avoided if care is taken in how humans affect the biogeochemical cycles on this planet. Together, all of the impacts mentioned that include losses of aesthetics and use, losses of biodiversity, and decreasing water quality cost large amounts of money to human populations every year. As Dodd’s et al. estimated, just in fresh water ecosystems the annual costs of eutrophication totals more than 2.2 billion dollars annually(Dodd’s et al.2008), and this is a conservative estimate. If the costs associated with salt water ecosystems were added to the costs estimated in fresh water habitats, this number would be much higher. Overall, the issue of eutrophication has massive impacts across many scales and represents a key issue that
Lake Erie now is having bad algae blooms. For example in 2011 algae took up ⅙ of Lake Erie’s water. Photoshorus is sneaking back into the waters and feeding the algae, too. Since there is now more plastic, algae, and phosphorus than water the fish population has gone down which has caused charting fishers companies drop 40%! The water gets so dangerous sometimes you can’t drink the water because people are worried about the chemicals in the water affecting us. What’s causing all the algae? “ It's extreme weather that creates blooms.” (Pearson). Lake Erie has gone from bad, to the best example of ecosystem recovery, to the bad algae
In Canada, all three levels of government (federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal) have roles and responsibilities with respect to fresh water management. The...
We do not have any more fresh water in certain areas but in near future will be gone if we keep using the water the way we do. Most of the time we don’t appreciate water just see, in yourself when you are in the bathroom. How much water do you waste in just one day? Is the question I ask every time I go to the bathroom. And then I ask myself if I waste 20 gallons of water a day, how much do I waste in one year the answer is 7300 gallons of water that I used, just me without counting the world’s population water usage, if I count it, well I had do simple math 20 gallons of water times by 7,381,940,300 world’s population will be 147,638,806,000 gallons of water waste in just one single year only used by human beings in our daily needs. Without counting the other ways, we waste water, for example, cooking, drinking, and washing the dishes etc.. As well not counting even the industry, agricultural, and electrical power used and contaminated by the human begins. For instance, the authors of the blue gold acknowledges, “The biggest threat to fresh water is pollution from thousands and thousands of factories, industrial farms, and cities that pour or leak pesticides fertilizers, and herbicides(including nitrates and phosphates), bacteria, medical waste, chemicals, and radioactive wastes in our water.”(28) Given about information the scariest thing on
Latham, A., Wright, E., & Tsang, A. (n.d.). Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem: Introduction and Background. Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem: Introduction and Background. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section5group1/introduction_and_background
There are many causes of water pollution, and the effects on the environment are directly related to the primary cause of the pollution. Therefore, each cause has to be examined for harmful effects. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration states nutrient pollution, "can lead to more serious problems such as low levels of oxygen dissolved in the water" (3). The dissolved oxygen levels being low lead to aquatic life dying. Nutrient pollution also can cause algae blooms which cause serious environmental problems affecting aquatic ecosystems, and which can cause dangerous health issues for animals and humans. Water pollution caused by sewage is an environmental problem. When sewage pollutes water it can be dangerous especially if it enters people 's source of drinking water as author Woodford states, "It is possible to catch illnesses such as hepatitis, typhoid, and cholera from river and sea water" (4). Chemical and radioactive runoff can be dangerous to humans as well. When water that is contaminated by chemicals is consumed by humans it can lead to sickness, paralysis or even death depending on the kind of chemical polluting the water and the concentration of the pollutant in the water. The Flint Crisis is an example of the damaging effect of chemical runoff, as the Flint communities ' water was contaminated by the lead pipes that carried the water resulting people in the affected communities ending up with lead poisoning. The environment and the animals are also impacted by chemical and radioactive runoff, increasing the death of organisms and decreasing biodiversity(3). Oil runoff water pollution is yet another example of water pollution. The effects oil runoff has on the environment are especially debilitating. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico for example, hurt not only aquatic life, but also land animals. The oil would get on to anything that touched the
One reason I think they should stop the desalination is that people are wasting 100 gallons of ocean water for only 50 gallons of fresh drinking water. After doing that they will return the leftover water, but it would have twice as much salt when it’s returned to the ocean. When they put the extra salt into the ocean the sea life would not be as healthy and they could die. This hurts the environment a lot and because they are doing this everyday it will start to
The Earth’s surface is covered by over two-thirds of water. With half of the world being covered by water; pollution in the water is a very big crisis that can actually be reduced to some extent. Water pollution is a human problem because it seems to be a recent development that started round the end of the 19th century. Scientists say that “humans have limits with an estimated 7 billion people on the planet, and pollution is a sign of exceeded pollution. According to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) pollution is a serious problem. “Pollution from toxic chemicals threatens life on this planet. Every ocean and every continent, from the tropics to the once-pristine polar regions, is contaminated." Now that we know how serious it is, let’s talk about what pollution is, what causes it, the effects, and how we can help.
Water Pollution is a current issue that has serious consequences; it progresses everyday in our lakes, oceans, rivers and other bodies of water.
Water pollution is very harmful to the environment and living things. Water pollution can come from many different sources. If the pollution comes from only one source, such as an oil spill, it is called point-source pollution. If it comes from many different sources, it is called nonpoint-source pollution. Most water pollution affects the immediate area surrounding the source, but there are some types of pollution, such as hazardous, that can affect areas miles away from the source. Water pollution is something that can be prevented; it is important to be aware of the causes of water pollution to keep the environment safe and clean for the many generations to come.