I believe I have an even more valid reason to skip out on the whole lets go swimming in ocean water. I call it “Death by Red Tide”. So what is Red Tide? Red tide is a common name for harmful algae bloom which is primarily found in the Gulf of Mexico. It occurs when colonies of algae (simple ocean plants that live in the sea) grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds.
With reference to examples explain how human activity can damage sand dune environments and evaluate the methods that can be used to protect them. Sand dunes are a very vulnerable environment which means that once they are damaged or disturbed it takes a long time for them to recover. Due to the fact they are so vulnerable human activity has many long lasting negative effects to the environment. One human activity that can cause damage to sand dune environments is coastal development. Demand for land and housing near coasts is very high as coastal dunes have a high economic value.
They are areas so overloaded with pollutants that they have difficulty sustaining any life.” Dead Zones are created by fertilizer and pollution run off from our very own backyards. These harmful chemicals use our river and stream systems as an easy alley-way type access to our coastal areas. Because of all the chemical run offs from farms that are near the coastline, countries that thrive off of agricultural activity have extremely high contents of population in the ocean surrounding them. With all the chemicals being dumped into the ocean, this creates large patches of ocean along the coastline that have absolutely no oxygen, therefore earning the nickname “dead zone”. Due to the Dead Zone’s lack of oxygen, no living organism can survive in any given patch of that type of water.
Either way global warming is changing the climate and is a major reason for the deterioration of the reef. It causes an increase of the average sea surface temperature, increases the average sea level, and changes ocean water circulation. It also changes rainfall patterns and creates an increase in CO2 in the ocean causing altered ocean chemistry. Because of the ocean temperature rising, the algae that give the coral its color is leaving to get to cooler water. Because of the climate changes animals are leaving and dying and plants are dying.
Student’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: Coral bleaching Coral bleaching is the reduction that occurs in the density of the microscopic marine plants that are usually found in the reef ecosystems. Coral bleaching also represents the reduction of the algal pigments which results to bleached reef corals or having a white appearance. This therefore shows that coral reef bleaching is the collection of mutual life sustaining associations which occurs between the coral and the algae. However, the corals do not get nutritive support from algae and at the same case the algae do not get protective nutritive environment from corals (Wooldridge 620). The coral bleaching was first noticed in the 1980’s and since then the reef has been experiencing frequent and repetitive mass bleaching.
The towns there are being threatened and damaged, and there have been many villages to be washed into the sea along this stretch of the eastern coastline. Here are some photographs to back up this point further: (Sources 1, 2 & 3) Why is the coastline eroding at such a fast rate? The Holderness coast is made up mostly of clay and chalk so naturally the coast is likely to erode faster than areas of coastline made of hard rock. However, at Holderness, the rock is much weaker and gets eroded at a much higher rate. Yet, in some places, groynes have been put in place to trap sediment and protect these areas of weak coast, largely the areas with major towns.
These ecosystems provide important links between land, freshwater and marine environments, as well as feeding and breeding grounds for many marine species (Great Barrier Reef Coastal Ecosystems). Any changes to or loss of these coastal ecosystems from human actions disturbs the ecology of the Great Barrier Reef. The framework of the reefs is formed by coral polyps that live together in colonies inside the coral. Besides the polyps, small fish and other organisms use the Reef as protection from predators. However, coral coverage on the Reef has fallen nearly 50% between 1985 and 2012 (Great Barrier Reef).
Freshwater ecosystems are of particular concern with water being a vital resource for the survival of organisms. Human interference has played a major role in the introduction and distribution of pathogens into this environment, with the greatest source of biological pollution discharged into waterways being sewage effluent (Mason, 2002). Contamination via faecal matter will introduce a variety of microorganisms to a waterway that is harmful to human and animal health including viruses, parasitic worms, protozoa and bacteria. Moreover, human movement of disease carrying organisms has shown to alter natural disease dynamics within an ecosystem (Okamura & Feist, 2011) impacting on biodiversity, population size and potentially causing economics losses. As a result, large scale management strategies are necessary to monitor and maintain water quality standards so that we may continue to use this resource as an essential component of life.
However, the oil drilling also contributes to environmental degradation in a variety of ways (Defenders of Wildlife, 1). They have a tremendous impact on the water, ocean floor, air quality and marine ecosystems. The dangers of deep sea drilling are evident through the years; this is especially in the case of exploration of oil below the depths of 200 meters; the situation worsens due to recent occurrences. The decline in global oil reserves facilitates the discovery and exploitation of many sources on the seabed. The evident rise in the price of oil worldwide increases the determination of companies in seeking more sources of oil.
The topic I chose to write about is the effects of an oil spill on an environment and ecosystems. When this event occurs it is very devastating and it impacts entire ecosystems of the affected areas. Oil spills are very dangerous and can wipe out species from the areas it affects, large numbers of wildlife like fish, seals, whales, plankton, crabs, and birds are killed during this event. The entire ecosystem is change forever and it will never go back to the same. Oils spills can cover up large areas of land with black tar that is very difficult to clean up; if this happens out at sea the tar stretches into a thin slick that stretches out for miles until it hits land.