“The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity . . . that’s all there is” (Gaylord). Throughout the recent decades, the wealth of the Chesapeake Bay and adjacent rivers have been affected by a phenomenon called eutrophication. that occurs when there is an excess of a nutrient limited in the water, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments (Eney 2009). Those nutrients are naturally good in the environment since they help the bottom of the food chain, but a lot is not always good, and the Chesapeake Bay has been receiving too much of these nutrients during the last years. This causes an explosion of growth an algae (algae bloom). Since algae are photosynthetic their life after the eutrophication occurs is very short. Many algae die without being eaten by the primary consumers and the one that remains without eating after dying begins to decompose, leaving at the bottom of the water an anoxic zone "dead zone" where there is no oxygen for the organisms that live there to survive. …show more content…
This problem causes the death of thousands of organisms/species in the water affecting its quality (EPA). In the late 1980s, scientists and researchers started to look at what could be the causes of this phenomenon. They found out that the major factors contributing to the pollution in the water of the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers connected to it were; excess of nutrients from wastewater, agricultural lands runoff, stormwater, fossil fuel and areas around and inside homes (EPA). The contamination of the rivers and the Chesapeake Bay due to the excess of nutrients released by those causes are bringing and will bring more consequences environmentally, economically and on human health, mainly in the states connected to the bay if no action is taken in this regard. The population is growing and since this is happening people has starting to cultivate more crops around areas that were unused before to feed all that increasing population. The Chesapeake bay is one of those areas, where A 30 % of the land is devoted to agriculture, it may not be the biggest percentage of the land use but the animal’s waste, the excessive use of fertilizer to make their crops grow faster and the excessive tillage in the soil that leads to soil erosion, make agriculture the biggest contributor to the contamination in the bay since they all contain nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients that are limited in the water, and when it rain they get washed from the soil that has been over farming and is not able to self-purify or adsorb the pollutants and reach the watershed, starting the process of eutrophication (The Chesapeake Bay Program). Moreover, the development of new cities near the bay has become something popular in the last years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2015 the number of American homes that were built measured in average 2,467 square feet Currently. As that trend has increased more building and street has been built. All of them are built from impermeable materials that means that they cannot absorb water. The stormwater is what cities created to solve the problem and avoid floods because when there is rain or snow storms water that flows over streets and parking lots goes to stormwater. The problem with this is that while doing that it picks up contaminants and carries them into streams and rivers that will eventually flow into the Chesapeake Bay (EPA). Further, wastewater is water that has been used in the home, in a business, or as part of an industrial process (dictionary.com). Wastewater treatment plans and septic systems are responsible for treating a large amount of everyday waste but most of these systems do not always correctly work when they have to remove nutrients from the water, before releasing the water in to rivers that end in the bay where it can become a source of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. In Maryland, approximately 100 gallons per person of water waste are processed each day (Maryland Government). That means that a lot of polluted water is reaching the bay every single day. Furthermore, Nitrogen is the most abundant nutrient in the air and “is essential to plant and animal life” (EPA). The nitrogen that comes from human activities like electric power, transportation, and agriculture, can unbalance the natural creation of nitrogen in the environment because when fossil fuels are burned, they released nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. This may cause acid rain or smog. Ammonia is another nitrogen compound released into to the air, from fossil fuels. According to Maryland Clean Air 2017 Progress Report, most of the nitrogen oxides released in Maryland due to human activity are from the burning of fossil fuels associated with transportation and industry. The major sources of these emissions are cars and trucks, Coal-fired power plants, Large industrial operations, Ships, and airplanes. Since all these nutrients are in the atmosphere when it rains they get deposited back in the land, where then they reach the rivers. Additionally, our homes and surroundings are among the sources that contributed to the pollution of the Chesapeake Bay. The appliances, yards, driveways and even pets are contributors to the problem since some storm drains directly carry polluted water to local streams and rivers. As consequence, anything that flows into them finish into our local rivers without any treatment. Residential areas are a big source of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from fertilizers. Fertilizing is a common practice among homeowners and landscaping services and when lawns are watered the fertilizer get. Animals wastes when are not disposed of properly contribute to nitrogen and phosphorus released they also can be unsafe in local water bodies and in areas for human recreation. Also, inside our homes, there are sources of nutrient like in laundry, dish, and car washing since soaps have a form of phosphorus called phosphates, which are carried from our homes into the water system through our drains. Nutrients pollution can cause many damages in the world. Federal, states and local governments work and spend a lot of money to try to solve these problems. In Maryland, the excess of nutrients can cause environmental disaster as well as it can affect the population’s health and the state’s economy. Among the effect that this problem has caused there is the one that affects human health since nutrient contamination and harmful algal blooms create toxins and compounds that are dangerous for our health. We are constantly exposed to those materials, for example when we drink water or accidentally swallowing or swimming in water affected by a harmful algal bloom. The most common sickness that we can get are; stomach or liver illness, respiratory problems, and even more neurological effects. Nitrate is a compound of nitrogen that is often found in drinking water near agricultural areas. Children that get in contact with a high concentration of nitrates can even die because of a condition is known as the blue baby syndrome (Health Line). In 2010 a report made by the U.S. Geological Survey on nutrients in ground and surface water found that nitrates “were too high in 64 percent of shallow monitoring wells in agricultural and urban areas” (USGS). That means that… As I stated previously stormwater drains carries nutrients directly into rivers, lakes, and reservoirs which are sources of drinking water for many people. When disinfectants used to treat drinking water react with toxic algae a chemical called dioxins can be created. Some experts connect that chemical to reproductive and developmental health risks and even cancer. The problems would also affect the biodiversity in the water, which would affect the state's economy since “The Bay provides half of the nation's blue crab harvest, and the seafood industry adds nearly $ 600 million to Maryland's economy” (Maryland Economy). This means that thanks to the biodiversity of the bay thousands of tons of fish and crabs are caught in the bay and then sold, which has given many labor opportunities. If the water does not have a healthy quality drinking water treatment will increase treatment cost. For example, in Maryland, the supply cost $3.38 per 0 - 49 gallons (WSSC). This price may significantly increase during the following years. Tourism is one of the economic and cultural resources of the bay. According to the EPA, the tourism industry loses close to $1 billion each year, mainly because of the loss in fishing and boating activities. Nobody seems to like to go to a place full of algae where there is not life and where the air pollution affects the visibility of national parks. Another problem affecting the bay economically is caused by the harmful algal blooms that kill fish and contaminate shellfish causing millions of losses each year. In addition, properties in front of the water might lose their values because of the unpleasant scenery and odor of algal blooms. Algae blooms are harmful, and they have caused a lot of damages to the aquatic ecosystem by killing a lot of organisms.
After being consumed by small fish and shellfish, these toxins move up the food chain and hurt larger animals this follow-up is called biomagnification, and it is something that we have to be concerned about it because we end up eating a lot of those organisms that have been eating small species during their whole life and their levels of toxicity are higher. Another effect that algae bloom has on the environment is that it blocks the sunlight needed by another organism to photosynthesis and create dead zone were fishes do not have oxygen and die. Over 166 dead zones have been documented nationwide, among them there is the Chesapeake Bay which is the second largest dead zone in the United States after The Gulf of Mexico which measured to be 5,840 square miles in 2013
(EPA). At last, the Chesapeake Bay is the North America largest estuary, and third largest in the world. All those excess in nutrients from agricultural waste, burning fossil fuel, wastewater, stormwater and even the yard our houses are causing the destruction of a national treasure. Agency like EPA, the Chesapeake Bay Program, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation among other are hardly trying to solve the problem before the effects are irreversible. As the society, we can make a big difference by educating ourselves a become aware of what is happening how it could not be affecting me directly, but it could be affecting other people or organism, or it could be affecting our future generation. So, start now! a small step can start changing the bay.
Nitrogen and nitrates relate to Hypoxia via the process of eutrophication. Since Nitrogen is a limiting nutrient in most waters, the added input of nitrate causes massive growth in algae. The algae rapidly consume all available N, and once the nutrient is limited again, the alga dies en masse. As the alga decomposes, oxygen is depleted in the water. This lowers dangerously lowers the level of dissolved oxygen in the water, which harms living organisms in the area. Small organisms and organisms that are immobile or unable to escape low-oxygen areas are particularly vulnerable. Hypoxia and resulting “dead zones” are harmful to local fishing and shrimping industries and algal blooms hurt the tourism industry. Hypoxia has lead to a decrease of about 25% in the brown shrimp habitat, forcing shrimping operations further offshore. As the hypoxia issue continues to grow, negative human effects will only increase. Since nitrate runoff from ag. has been proven to be the dominant source of hypoxia, policies could be enacted to effectively deal with “point-source” pollution. This makes enacting environmental policy more easily adapted, possibly included in past policy such as the Clean Water Act.
This ad is directed to many people in the Chesapeake Bay region because there are tons of pollution each year that are destroying the nation’s largest estuary, or part of a body of water where the fresh and salt water mix, and are also killing the Bay’s crabs, oysters, and fish, which is a huge industry in the area and also something the state of Maryland is known nationally for (Environment, p. 8). Pollution is destroying the Chesapeake Bay every single day, however now people are taking steps in the right direction to fix this problem but many people fear that time has run out.
One of the Bays biggest resources is its oysters. Oysters are filter feeders which mean they feed on agley and clean the water. The oysters feed on agley and other pollutants in the bay turning them into food, then they condense the food down to nutrients and sometimes developed pearls. Filtering the water helps the oysters to grow, and also helps clean the Chesapeake Bay. One oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day, Oysters used to be able to filter the Bay in about a week. However, these creatures are now scarce in the bay. The Chesapeake Bays Oyster (crassostrea virginica) Population has declined severely because of over harvesting, agricultural runoff, and disease. Now the Chesapeake Bay is becoming polluted without the oysters and the water is not nearly as clean as it once was. The Chesapeake Bay was the first estuary in the nation to be targeted for restoration as an integrated watershed and ecosystem. (Chesapeake Bay Program n/d). This report will show the cause and effect of the Chesapeake Bay's Oyster decline on the Bay.
The Maryland Blue Crab is an essential part of the Chesapeake Bay; from the food chain of the creatures in the water, to the business side of the thriving demand for the crab during the hot summer months, but there is no denying the fact that the crab is just as important alive as it is when it is being harvested by local fisherman. By becoming more informed of the impact the crab has on Maryland’s bay and on the people who live around it, people can take bigger steps in making sure the crab will always be around for decades to come.
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.
Eutrophication is a concern in the Chesapeake Bay. Eutrophication is caused by excessive amounts of nutrients. Excessive nutrients in the bay have negative affects on the bay's ecosystem. The extra nutrients make the environment unbalanced. The extra nutrients cause a chain reaction that depletes oxygen and kills most of the organisms in that area. This is what is known as a dead zone.
The Chesapeake Bay is a large bay that stretches from Maryland to Virginia, fed by many rivers and streams that run from as far north as New York to Virginia and West Virginia.5 It is home to a plethora of plants and fish species, many of which the people of the area fish for food and supplies. The pollution present in the Chesapeake Bay is affecting the livelihood of both the fishermen and the fish – the less the fishermen haul due to the death of the species they catch, the less they get paid – and as consumers of these fish, we are consuming the toxins as well.
One of the Bays biggest resources is its oysters. Oysters are filter feeders which mean they feed on agley and clean the water. The oysters feed on agley and other pollutants in the bay turning them into food for them, then they condense the food down to nutrient and developed things like pearls.Filtering the water also helps the oyster to grow. One oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day, Oysters used to be able to filter the Bay in about a week. However these creatures are now scarce in the bay. The Chesapeake Bays Oyster (crassostrea virginica) Population has declined severely because of over harvesting, agricultural runoff, and disease. Now the Chesapeake Bay is becoming polluted without the oysters and the water is not nearly as clean as it once was. The Chesapeake Bay was the first estuary in the nation to be targeted for restoration as an integrated watershed and ecosystem. (Chesapeake Bay Program n/d). This report will show the cause and effect of the Chesapeake Bay's Oyster decline on the Bay.
The tidal salt marshes make vital contributions to the ecosystem in Jamaica Bay. The marshes help spawning processes and are primary nursery for species important to both recreational and commercial uses, providing protection from storm surges, and also removing pollutants and other toxic substances, which as a result, acts as a natural filter, improving the water quality in the bay. Salt marshes are low lying, grasslands that periodically become overwhelmed and drained by high tides. The fish and shellfish nurseries and are also a feeding ground for various species of wildlife in the ecosystem. They support a variety of invertebrates such as mussels, shrimp, oysters and horseshoe crabs that are key elements of the estuarine ecosystem. However, throughout the past few decades, the salt marshes at Jamaica Bay has significantly declined which created a tremendous negative impact on the general public in addition to the deterioration on the living habitats in the area. Many factors contribute to the decline such as sediment depletion, neighboring developments, increased tidal ranges, and especially nitrogen loading from untreated sewage. Although the damages done were unintentional, much of it was occurred due to negligence. As awareness has increased, restoration efforts have escalated as well as various groups respond well to mitigate the losses.
Eutrophication is a concern in the Chesapeake Bay. Eutrophication is caused by excessive amounts of nutrients. Excessive nutrients in the bay have negative effects on the bay's ecosystem. The extra nutrients make the environment unbalanced. The extra nutrients cause a chain reaction that eventually kills most of the organisms in that area. This is what is known as a dead zone.
... the residual effects of pollution left behind by both mining in the Chesapeake Bay area around rivers, such as the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, that feed into the Chesapeake Bay. Lutz also had quoted John Dawes, now the executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, on the damage done to streams and to the aquatic life in the streams. Dawes told Lutz "'we're looking at 4,600 miles of dead streams in Pennsylvania'" in reference to the vitality in polluted regions. This can occur in several ways but the two generally accepted causes are the toxicity levels in the water are too high to support life and the contaminated water is slowly killing off members of the food chains for the aquatic life. In either theory, the death of fish and their food chain caused by AMD is impacting the billion dollar fishing industry that calls Chesapeake Bay home.
According to NOAA phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that continuously convert sunlight and nutrients into living tissue. Phytoplankton can be harmful to the bay because they at an uncontrollable rate causing harmful algae blooms when there is an abundance of nutrients. Phytoplankton also serve as the main food source for a larger but still microscopic organism named Zooplankton. Marine Bio.org did a study on zooplnkton revealing that they are very weak swimmers making them an easy food source for any larger organsim. Zooplanktons’ main purpose serves as the main food source for small fish and
The Chesapeake Bay is a very large estuary that holds more than eighteen trillion gallons of water (“The Bay Watershed”). This large estuary is part of six of the different states of Maryland, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia (“Chesapeake Bay Program”). Some characteristics of the bay are salinity, temperature, and circulation. The bay watershed is home to seventeen million people and gains more people each year, so it is no wonder why there are pollution problems (“Chesapeake Bay Program”). The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and is diverse with life. Though the bay is filled with life, it faces many problems caused by humans.
By the oceans being polluted not only are animals affected humans are too. What some people don't know is that they are killing of and disturbing offspring by polluting waters. "Ocean pollution results in smaller catches of fish all over the world, either by killing fish directly, preventing them from breeding, or causing birth abnormalities. Seabirds are unable to breed and whales are poisoned. Pollution also seems to be responsible for a new disease among seals. Without even swallowed, plastic can kill seabirds, turtles, and other creatures by trapping them. People drinking water from polluted seas can become sick. Deadly infectious diseases like cholera and typhoid can break out." There are many different types of sizes of plankton everywhere in our ocean waters.
Above all, these organisms encourage the growth of algae, which absorb dissolved oxygen in the water essential for the survival of fish populations. Occasionally, the decomposition of newly-submerged biomass and sediment further reduce the water's oxygen content. Water sources can literally choke to death as a result of increasing human activity, such as industry and agriculture giving rise to increased nutrient loading.