Enriching the Sea to Death
Main points:
· Even a century ago the unsightly consequences of dumping raw sewage directly into lakes and bays were quite troubling. Dead fish and malodorous sludges fouled favorite beaches as sewage rode back toward land on the waves. Unwilling to return to the days of chamber pots and privies, people were soon forced to clean up their waste somewhat before discharging it.
· By the 1960s many treatment plants had begun to remove organic matter as well. But the various methods failed to extract the elements nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients indispensable to human life and abundant in human waste.
· Plants grow faster with the nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorus
· These blooms increase the supply of organic matter to aquatic ecosystems, a process known as eutrophication
· But water circulates less readily than air and holds only five to 10 grams of oxygen per cubic meter at best—that is, when freely exchanging its dissolved gases with the atmosphere. Although fish and a number of other aquatic animals have adapted to live under these conditions, a small decrease in the oxygen content of their surroundings can often be deadly to them
· The more abundant the bloom, the heavier the fallout to the lower depths. And therein lies the problem: the bottom-living bacteria that digest this dead plant matter consume oxygen.
· Animals that cannot escape to better-aerated zones will suffocate, and dead creatures may begin to litter the shoreline as bacteria take over the otherwise barren bottom waters.
· Scientists now know this assumption was wrong. The fertilization of coastal waters constitutes a major environmental threat to the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, the Lagoon of Venice, the North Sea and a great many other estuaries, bays and lagoons in the industrial world.
· The surface waters, rich in nutrients and bathed in sunlight, teem with phytoplankton and other forms of floating plant life. The bottom layers become choked with dead plant matter, which consumes more and more oxygen as it decomposes. Below the surface, entire bays can suffocate.
· Bays and estuaries provide some of the richest fishing grounds, yet oxygen depletion kills fish, and nutrients may cause certain toxic varieties of phytoplankton to bloom, contaminating the shellfish that feed on them.
· Picturesque shores are sullied by dead fish and rotting plant waste, and the water may reek of rotten eggs as bacteria on the ocean floor spew out hydrogen sulfide
· Scientists are still far from understanding all the ways the oceans will pay for keeping human life so widespread and abundant. But as far as the residents of the ocean are concerned, there seems little cause for celebration
Summary:
Dumping water sewage had a lot of consequences before, they were quite troubleling when directly put into water. When their was sewage in the water dead fish were found. This was long ago though and people are tired of returning to chamber pot and stuff like that so they were soon forced to clean up their waste after they were soon discharging it. By the 1960s treatment plants were beginning to remove organic matter,various methods had failed to extract elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus found in human waste. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are in fact important for plants growth, the blooms increase the supply of organic matter to aquatic systems. Animals that are near a dead zone is dangerous because they don't receive the oxygen needed, they will die in large quantities. It is important for animals and plants to gt sunlight because in the ocean the top layers are rich with life while the other are becoming chocked with dead plant matter which can cause animals to suffocate and die. Oxygen duplication kills even though certain nutrients can cause certain toxic varieties of phytoplankton to bloom contaminating. Scientist are still finding their ways to understand this and why should it be approached.
My reaction:
My reaction is not very surprised because we have studied this in the past. What dos surprise me now is that it is still a problem. We need to focus on the damage we have its killing many of our species and leaving dead zones in the ocean. Many of our animals are dying and i wonder how that will affect us in the future. It for sure will ruin the food chain and will also give us a lot of less options to chose from for our food. Many areas of the world depend on the ocean and the animals in it to survive. My reaction is simple which is that I'm surprised that actions have not been taken for these causes.
Main points:
· Even a century ago the unsightly consequences of dumping raw sewage directly into lakes and bays were quite troubling. Dead fish and malodorous sludges fouled favorite beaches as sewage rode back toward land on the waves. Unwilling to return to the days of chamber pots and privies, people were soon forced to clean up their waste somewhat before discharging it.
· By the 1960s many treatment plants had begun to remove organic matter as well. But the various methods failed to extract the elements nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients indispensable to human life and abundant in human waste.
· Plants grow faster with the nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorus
· These blooms increase the supply of organic matter to aquatic ecosystems, a process known as eutrophication
· But water circulates less readily than air and holds only five to 10 grams of oxygen per cubic meter at best—that is, when freely exchanging its dissolved gases with the atmosphere. Although fish and a number of other aquatic animals have adapted to live under these conditions, a small decrease in the oxygen content of their surroundings can often be deadly to them
· The more abundant the bloom, the heavier the fallout to the lower depths. And therein lies the problem: the bottom-living bacteria that digest this dead plant matter consume oxygen.
· Animals that cannot escape to better-aerated zones will suffocate, and dead creatures may begin to litter the shoreline as bacteria take over the otherwise barren bottom waters.
· Scientists now know this assumption was wrong. The fertilization of coastal waters constitutes a major environmental threat to the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, the Lagoon of Venice, the North Sea and a great many other estuaries, bays and lagoons in the industrial world.
· The surface waters, rich in nutrients and bathed in sunlight, teem with phytoplankton and other forms of floating plant life. The bottom layers become choked with dead plant matter, which consumes more and more oxygen as it decomposes. Below the surface, entire bays can suffocate.
· Bays and estuaries provide some of the richest fishing grounds, yet oxygen depletion kills fish, and nutrients may cause certain toxic varieties of phytoplankton to bloom, contaminating the shellfish that feed on them.
· Picturesque shores are sullied by dead fish and rotting plant waste, and the water may reek of rotten eggs as bacteria on the ocean floor spew out hydrogen sulfide
· Scientists are still far from understanding all the ways the oceans will pay for keeping human life so widespread and abundant. But as far as the residents of the ocean are concerned, there seems little cause for celebration
Summary:
Dumping water sewage had a lot of consequences before, they were quite troubleling when directly put into water. When their was sewage in the water dead fish were found. This was long ago though and people are tired of returning to chamber pot and stuff like that so they were soon forced to clean up their waste after they were soon discharging it. By the 1960s treatment plants were beginning to remove organic matter,various methods had failed to extract elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus found in human waste. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are in fact important for plants growth, the blooms increase the supply of organic matter to aquatic systems. Animals that are near a dead zone is dangerous because they don't receive the oxygen needed, they will die in large quantities. It is important for animals and plants to gt sunlight because in the ocean the top layers are rich with life while the other are becoming chocked with dead plant matter which can cause animals to suffocate and die. Oxygen duplication kills even though certain nutrients can cause certain toxic varieties of phytoplankton to bloom contaminating. Scientist are still finding their ways to understand this and why should it be approached.
My reaction:
My reaction is not very surprised because we have studied this in the past. What dos surprise me now is that it is still a problem. We need to focus on the damage we have its killing many of our species and leaving dead zones in the ocean. Many of our animals are dying and i wonder how that will affect us in the future. It for sure will ruin the food chain and will also give us a lot of less options to chose from for our food. Many areas of the world depend on the ocean and the animals in it to survive. My reaction is simple which is that I'm surprised that actions have not been taken for these causes.
So what?
-IF we don't take care of the problem then a lot of our foods will die because we need a lot of the animals in the ocean. We need the ocean itself because we learn from it and theirs a lot we still don't know. What if? -if we do help these animals and stop contaminating the quantities of animals might double is size through time and it will become better for the future and the animals and the "health" of the planet. |
Says who?
-Many researchers have focused on this topic but also students such as those who go to college and want to be in this field. What does this remind me of? -This might sound unrealistic but this reminds me of the movie 2012 how in the movie everything was destructed with nothing left, this reminds me of that because it makes me think how that could be the earth one day if we don't help it more destruction will come our way. |