point pollution
produced from a single, identifiable location
example of point pollution
smokestacks
non-point pollution
produced from a more diffused, broadly defined area
example of non-point pollution
urban runoff
BOD
biochemical oxygen demand
how does BOD affect fish populations
higher BOD leads to more pollution and less DO
DO
dissolved oxygen
how does DO affect fish populations
lower DO levels cause dead zones
effect on local streams of logging in a watershed
increased water temperature
how are macroinvertibrates an indicator species
live in an aquatic ecosystem for long enough to show the effects of pollutants
affected in an organism by endocrine disrupters
hormones
services that mangrove forests and wetlands provide
flood control, shoreline stabilization, storm protection, habitat and nursery, biodiversity
3 characteristics of POPs
don’t easily break down, can travel long distances, fat-soluble
bioaccumulation
increase in concentration of pollutant in an organism
biomagnification
increase in concentration of pollutant in a food chain/web
primary source that releases mercury into the environment
coal combustion
ways to reduce mercury pollution
use cleaner energy sources, reduce use of coal
primary source of pesticides
increased crop production
health effects of pesticides
kills many non-target organisms
primary treatment of sewage
grit chamber
tertiary treatment of wastewater
water is disinfected
ways dysentery is transmitted
untreated/raw sewage, water contaminated by sewage
ways cholera is transmitted
infected water/food
measure of the amount of suspended material in water
turbidity
human health issue linked to exposure to pollution released during incineration of plastic waste
asthma
how eutrophication leads to death of aquatic species
leads to dead zones, not enough oxygen in water to support life
how agriculture contributes to the formation of dead zones
runoff from fertilizer pollutes streams and leads to algal blooms
how urban areas contribute to the formation of dead zones
wastewater treatment facilities release nutrients into treated wastewater, causes it to overflow
how dead zones affect marine organisms
organisms die/are forced to migrate due to low DO levels in the water
why dead zones increase during the summer months
higher water temperature decreases concentration of DO
where the largest dead zone occurs
Gulf of Mexico
economic effects that dead zones have on local communities
decreased fishing/income for fishing industry, decrease in tourism/revenue