Water Pollution
audio
Powerpoint
By: Linzy Warkentin
Per. 3
Mr. Haskell
Water pollution can be classified as all unnatural material that finds its way to the world�s seas. It includes substances that are either directly harmful to life or that have harmful secondary or long-term effects. The main sources of water pollution are sewage, oil spills, industrial waste, garbage, agricultural fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Water pollution is a serious problem all over the world and if it isn�t fixed then a major ecosystem will be in trouble.
Any body of water has the capacity to absorb or break down established materials, sewage and some organic industrial wastes are broken down naturally by microorganisms. The major sources of water pollution are untreated sewage from cities and towns, chemical fertilizers and pesticides that have run off farmland into rivers and streams, and chemicals from industrial plants located along waterways. Sewage and fertilizers containing nutrients get into the water. The high level of nutrients in them encourage the growth of algae and plants blocking light that is need in deeper water, and using up oxygen as they decompose. This is called eutrophication. The domestic waste water in sewage systems can be artificially treated and purified to remove its pollutants before the water is discharged back into the environment in a process called water treatment.
The domestic waste water in sewage systems can be artificially treated and purified to remove its pollutants before the water is discharged back into the environment in a process called water treatment.
There are two types of water pollution non point source and point source. Non point source is caused by agriculture, construction, and urbanization. When it rains the water
runoff collects the pollutants on the land surface and drains them into the streams which carry the pollutants into the oceans. Making it hard to tell where exactly the pollutants came from. Point source pollution on the other hand is sewage over flows, effluents from factories, oil spills. We can determine where these pollutants came.
Toxic chemicals have also paid and attribute to marine pollution all over the world. They enter the oceans mainly by urban runoff or improper disposal. Toxic chemicals have broken down the immune system on many marine animals such as seals, dolphins, and whales. These chemicals have been killing marine animals for over 20 years. Cancer, deformed spines, ulcers, bacterial and viral infections, and thyroid abnormalities have been the main effects of marine animals being exposed to such chemicals. Chemicals like chlordane, which is a type of pesticide, and other persistent chemicals are only a few. Over the many years of pollution, marine animals have become infected with diseases that can be transferred from animal to animal, or from animal to human.
When marine animals we dine on become infected with a cancer or disease, the illness can easily be transferred over to the human body. All we have to do is eat our food that is supposed to be bacteria free, and then we are affected by the disease that the animal we just ate was infected with. About 30% of our seafood has been contaminated by pollution, 25% is thrown out, and 5% we eat.
We use oil for our automobiles which carry us to our destination for us to achieve goals and live our everyday life. Oil spills have been occurring for many years during transportation from country to country. Whether the spill occurs on land or on water, it all affects our oceans. Even the smallest spills are still recovering from over 5 years ago. The saying �sometimes the largest things come in small packages,� definitely applies to this problem. When a small oil spill occurs, a large amount of damage can be done. About 58% of our coral reefs and marine animals have been ruined by oil spills.
In March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef, spilling 11,000,000 gallons of crude oil killing thousands animals, and caused millions of dollars in damages. The Exxon Valdez oil spill happened 16 years ago and we are still seeing problems occurring caused by it. One problem is there�s still oil. Once the oil sinks and settles to the bottom it may take decades to naturally withdraw from the environment. Besides oil spills, run off and sewage is a problem. Urban runoff is a threat to human health and the health of coastal ecosystems. More than 90% of all marine species are concentrated over the continental shelf. The continental shelf is most effected by run off and sewage.
Everyday, oil from the streets runs off into the ocean. The amount of oil each year has equaled to be the same amount as a large oil tanker can carry. From a past year, five quarts of oil from and oil change can contaminate a million gallons of water. A clean up crew called MARPOL, short from marine pollution, has recently signed a treaty reducing oil pollution from shipping by about 60% worldwide.
MARPOL has also installed a machine for cleaning waste oil off the side of tankers. MARPOL is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. One of their international treaties regulates the disposal of wastes generated by normal operation of vessels. It is also implemented in the U.S. by the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, under the lead of the U.S. Coast Guard. 161 countries are parties as of December 2001.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, sewage is now being disposed into their local oceans. A man made pond was made in the poor urban area of Rio de Janeiro. Gangs and other people have been dumping wastes and sewage into this pond making the owners forced to drain it. It was drained right into their local oceans. Now, about 20 tons of sewage is dumped into the oceans per second.
Marine debris enter the ocean through intentional dumping from ships, accidental discharge from ships or garbage barges on their way to off shore land fills, as part of sewage, by being swept from the land by wind or storms, from polluted rivers and streams, and in runoff from beaches littered with thrash. Marine debris affects living organisms by killing organisms that either eat or get tangled in it. 30,000 northern fur seals and many other animals die from plastic bags or fishing gear. Sea turtles will mistake a plastic bag for a jelly fish and eat it, this kills the turtle. The plastic bag gets stuck in their stomachs blocking the digestive track. Resin pellets look like fish eggs. Plastic resin pellets are also eaten by animals and have the same effect as a plastic bag.
The disposal of radio active material in the ocean also causes many problems. Radioactive materials do treat cancer and many other illnesses and until we can find another cure for the illnesses we have to find a better way to dispose of these wastes. We can�t just stop using these materials because they save lives. But dumping in the ocean kills more animals than lives it saved. Biomagnifications occurs and affect us too. When we get to much radiation the immediate damage seen is rashes blistering or hair loss. Radionuclides are stored in the body and continue to cause damage.
Water pollution is just one continuous problem it never stops. The reason for the most recent flare up would be run off. We have had a rainy past month or so which washes all the ground pollutants into the ocean.
Water pollution is a serious problem all over the world and if it isn�t fixed or at least slowed down, this problem will continue harming and effecting people, animals and a lot of other things. Each year 5.2 million people die from diseases caused by improper disposal of sewage and solid waste. If a solution is not found, this number will increase even more.
Oil contributes a lot to the source of water pollution. Some solutions to that are keeping boat and car engines well maintained. That means making sure not to spill oil and gas while refueling because that oil and gas that runs off our road and driveways goes into our waterways.
Another main source of pollution is litter. This can be prevented by recycling, reusing, reducing and refusing. By doing this, it will significantly reduce the amount of pollution in our oceans.
It�s so hard to get rid of our wastes if it doesn�t affect one thing it affect another. I wish it was as simple as putting all our wastes into a spaceship and just sending it into space. But its not and it will take time. If everyone doesn�t do there part it wont really matter. In 1993 a fifth of the world population lived in the ten most populous cities nine out the ten are located on the coast. Imagine how many people affect the ocean and we don�t even realize it. If majority of the people contributed the smallest amount of help and concern about this it would amount to be so big.
By doing these simple things, we can all help reduce the amount of water pollution in this Earth. It is a very serious, complex problem with simple solutions. All in all, water pollution needs to be solved very soon because it is affecting lifestyles and killing people.
My prediction is that we won�t stop marine pollution completely but at least it won�t be as bad. People are lazy and don�t really want to take the time to care about our oceans. If we don�t take care of our oceans our coral reefs will die out, thousands more animals will die and we could get sick. I believe that our oceans will continue to deteriorate due to the facts of oil spills, urban runoff, improper sewage disposal, and other ocean pollution related activities.
Science provides many practical solutions to minimizing the present level at which pollutants are introduced into the environment. Are our oceans going to become bacteria free again in the future or will they be destroyed forever? This decision is mainly up to us. We can either do something about it or continue with the clean up programs or we can ignore it and just let our oceans deteriorate.
Additionally, there are choices we make each day that also can affect the quantity of pollutants our actions will introduce into the environment. I believe that our oceans will continue to deteriorate due to the facts of oil spills, urban runoff, improper sewage disposal, and other ocean pollution related activities. People these days are enormously lazy and in order to initiate with cleaning our oceans, we need thousands of people who are willing to work exceptionally hard. Our oceans won�t become fresh on their own. For example, walking to the store instead of driving is one way to help with the amount of pollution. Is it going to happen? No! That is why our oceans will continue to become even more polluted than they are now.
In Japan, Europe, all the way to America, we rely on the ocean�s animals to feed millions and millions of people. If our oceans are polluted, we will not be able to dine on these specialties from the sea. Even seawater has become and important source of water supply as water facilities grow all over the nation. Catalina Island uses the seawater to support the island�s population with water. If the oceans become even more polluted, they will have to find another source of water.
Works Cited
David Krantz and Brad Kifferstein. "WATER POLLUTION AND SOCIETY.� University of Michigan. Feb 21 2004 <http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/waterpollution.htm>.
Miller, Ruby M. Water Quality and Availability. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO Inc. , 1992.
Brown, Joseph E. Oil Spills; Danger in the Sea. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1978.
Nelson, Chad. "Runoff." Surfline. 1 Mar. 2005 <http://www.surfline.com/surfaz/runoff.cfm>.
Gorman Martha. Environmental Hazards Marine Pollution . Santa Barbra : ABC-CLIO Inc, 1993.
Yoshi, Kurt. Personal interview. 5 Mar. 2005.
Rendina, Lisa. Personal interview. 12 Mar. 2005.