Introduction
Red Tide, commonly labeled as Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), is a natural phenomenon that is caused by an explosion of algae in coastal waters. The algae are single celled protists; plant-like organisms. Because the algae reproduce expeditiously, they manage to alter the color of coastal oceans. However, the name "Red Tide" is a misnomer; many times, the ocean can be multiple colors, ranging from green to blue to yellow. Overall, Red Tide has many negative effects on the environment as well as the health of both humans and animals alike.
Causes of Red Tide
There are many causes of red tide, such as warm ocean surface temperatures, low salinity, high nutrient content, and calm seas. Often, red tide can be carried over to other places by winds, ocean currents, storms, or ships, so it is found all across the globe and nearly impossible to predict. In the Atlantic coast, the algae responsible for the red tides are called Alexandrium Fundyense. In the Pacific coast, the algal bloom liable for the Red Tide is called Alexandrium Catenella. In the Gulf of Mexico, the algae responsible are Karenia Brevis.
Red Tide's Effect on the Environment
Red Tide algae create natural brevetoxins, which are toxins that can be introduced to the body through inhalation and ingestion. Through bioaccumulation and biomagnification, Red Tide algae can easily poison and kill consumers higher on the food web, such as large fish. However, grazers such as krill are unaffected by the miniscule amount of toxins in their bodies. However, as the algae and their toxins go up in the food chain, they become more concentrated in individual organisms, often causing sickness, then death. As a result, millions of fish can die due to ingestion of the toxins.
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On average a given spot will experience two high tide and two low tides in a day. The tides are experienced due to the moon gravitational pull. The low tides are experienced when we are facing 90 and 180 degrees away from the moon. Then the high tides are found when we are facing the moon and when we are facing away from the moon.
Carson has written this essay to provide insight about the tide currents of the deep waters. She also raises insight awareness on planetary forces and physical dimensions. Carson’s main focus consists on informing the readers about the size, timing, and occurrences the tides correlated with. Statistics and studies are given to further elaborate and assist Rachel’s theory that states “In every country the moon keeps ever the rule of alliance with the sea which-it once for all has agreed upon." From the tone of the essay, it can be seen that the theme contains educational content that has significant importance to the global being.
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.
In the early development process of many organisms, it is important to be able to minimize exposure to agents of stunted or arrested development. By decreasing the mortality rate for a generation of a species, that species is given an advantage in later reproduction; by increasing the number of organisms of the same species within a limited environment, more organisms of the same species are able to reproduce, resulting in an augmented overall population ("Reproduction and Development", 2013). However, when toxins are introduced to an environment, an embryo’s viability can decrease. Mortality rates for the generation of the species can increase, and defects that are harmful to the reproductive cycle can emerge. Thus, it is necessary to measure and observe the effects of certain toxins on embryonic development. The North American brine shrimp, or Artemia Franciscana (Artemia Salina), is subject to changes in its environment. Toxins introduced to its hatching environment, such as ethanol (in concentrations of 0.1%, 0.15%, and 0.2%), can have significant impact for the hatching process and embryonic development. The experiment sought to explore the relationship between birth defects and exposure to ethanol at early developmental stages through the use of American brine shrimp. However, to be able to fully comprehend the impact that certain toxins would have on the embryonic development of the North American brine shrimp, it is first important to be versed in its specific hatching process.
The bay's harvest and many of its other attractions bring tourists and in turn revenue for the area. Oysters and blue crab are a big part of the culture in the bay area. However, these organisms are in danger and need help. Description of the problem Eutrophication is a concern in the Chesapeake Bay. Eutrophication is caused by excessive amounts of nutrients.
According to the Worldwatch Institute the rapid industrialization has polluted many lakes and streams resulting in chemical pollution and increased algae blooms leaving the water undrinkable. These combined issues are then causing knock on effects to the aquatic life by staving them of oxygen. Many areas are also suffering with an increase in dust storms; these have been a cause of over agricultural use. These increased storms would not cause many problems but now they can ...
...: The data shows that if there is minimal or extreme acidification in water then oceanic life will be experiencing severe stress. The findings show that my hypothesis was proven correct. Due to this project being a mini projection of the entire ocean it is clear that if humans continue adding chemicals into the ocean then the acidification will rise putting unwanted stress to the fish.
This event resulted in an outbreak of coral disease and macro algae, ultimately reducing reef quality.
The Chesapeake Bay has faced an excessive amount of pollution over the past century. The water in the bay has become so highly polluted that It is capable of causing harm to humans coming in direct contact with the water. Although algae serves a vital role in the bay’s ecosystem, it also creates a problem that is causing a large amount of the problem.
"An Ocean Of Trash." Scholastic Action 33.12 (2010): 16. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
...exico, resulting in the death of humans, wild and marine lives, in addition to contaminated water.
Toufexis Anastasia, Andrea Dorfman, Eugene Linden, and Edwin M. Reingold. "The Dirty Seas Threatened by Rising Pollution, the Oceans Are Sending out an SOS." Time 132.5 (1988): 1-8. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Tides are common features of the ocean. Tides occur when large bodies water rise and fall, because of the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun. Spring tides are especially strong tides; in spite of the name they have nothing to do with the season spring. They occur when the Earth, the sun, and the moon are in a line. Spring tides occur during the full moon and the new moon. Neap tides are especially weak tides. They occur when the gravitational forces of the moon and the sun are perpendicular to one another. When water moves from side to side, it is called a current. Currents move warm and cold water to different parts of the ocean.
Thermal pollution is harmful to aquatic ecosystems. They are caused when cool river water are drawn from the water source, run through a power plant, and then discharged back into the same source. This now heated water causes all kinds of mischief and damages to the health of the organisms in the aquatic environment and the environment itself. In an experiment, Gisela Lannig and Inna Sokolova of the University of North Carolina in Charlotte incubated oysters at one of three temperatures, 20°C, 24°C, and 28°C. The differing temperatures of the environment each group of oysters are exposed to in the incubator simulate thermal pollution in the oysters’ natural habitat. What they found was that "the rate of oxygen use, which can be an indicator of physical stress, was three times as high in oysters kept at the warmest temperature as it was in those kept at the coolest" (Raloff, 2005). This reveals that their environment could stress aquatic organisms with just a minute change in the temperature of the ecosystem. This stress could cause the health of an organism to deteriorate or even possibly death.