Environmental Factors Affecting Human Related Activities

One of the most damaging algae species known to Florida along the south-west coast is the Karenia brevis, also known as Florida red tide. These microscopic algae bloom all year around in the Gulf of Mexico producing brevetoxins, which contains a suite of neurotoxic polyether compound. These blooms can last as long as 18 months fluctuating between insignificant blooms to critical, impacting both the marine ecosystems and humans health (Pierce and Henry, 2008). The Florida red tide will continue to be the cause of unexplained fish and other animal deaths, along with human illnesses unless more research and observations is done to find a way of controlling these algae blooms.

Ecosystems is the dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment that work together to form a functional unit and they are constantly changing due to the fluctuating equilibrium from natural stress and human action which has had adversarial impacts on ecosystems. This is evident in Minnamurra rainforest as human induced modifications and environmental stresses had resulted in a vulnerable ecosystem. Furthermore, the removal of factors that contribute to the vulnerability of an ecosystem is important as it affect the functioning of the ecosystem as processes are accelerated, biodiversity is decreased which greatly affects humans. Despite the negative effects caused by humans, they have discovered that ecosystems are susceptible from harm caused by natural environmental factors or human impacts and realised the importance of protecting and managing ecosystems therefore have implemented management strategies that are supposed to prevent further detriment and as a consequence may induce resiliency.

People are polluting the oceans which not only affects us but also affects the beautiful underwater habitats and interesting sea creatures. Two billion people within 30 miles of the coast create 100 metric tons of coastal plastic waste (Doc.1). This plastic waste can get caught around sea animals, injuring them or even killing them (OI). Oils spills can really hurt marine life (Doc.2). Some creatures could eat it or get covered in it. If the fish eats the oil and then someone or something eats the fish they could get extremely ill. When there are excess nutrients in the water algal blooms occur, which is when algae has too many nutrients and reproduces in large numbers, this can also hurt people (OI). For these reasons and many more we should

The effect of human activity on Red Tide blooms is a controversy between many scientists. Initiation is typically off-shore at the continental shelf, and human pollution would maximally benefit a bloom once traveled in-shore from currents or wind. The skeptic for some scientists is if nutrients available in-shore would affect the early stages of a bloom. Once traveled in-shore most believe human contribution helps maintain the already dense bloom. K. brevis has a flexible diet, but they grow at slow rates compared to other phytoplankton. With that being said, initiation would have to take place at the continental shelf, gaining the correct nutrients with aid from earth's phenomenons. Coastal pollution feeds the mature blooms nutrients and creates hypoxic environments. This damages the oceans ecosystem and is a threat the human health. Being able to fully resist red tide is near impossible but being able to predict when an event is going to occur is becoming reasonable. Noting when the Sahara dust makes way to the Gulf of Mexico allows for prediction of Trichodesmium blooms, then followed by K. brevis blooms. Another factor is by tracking how far into the Gulf of Mexico the Loop Current travels. Being able to prevent a red tide event all together would be beneficial, but not very likely. Human's cannot prevent Sahara Desert dust from traveling to the Gulf and enriching the water with iron, along

Although sewage systems are able to provide a great deal of sanitation to water before it is released back into a source, the risk of raw sewage overflowing into water sources poses several issues. Not only can raw sewage contain harmful bacteria such as E. coli, it can also negatively affect aquatic life. Human waste typically contains high levels of nitrogen, phosphorous, and other nutrients that are useful for people but can cause many issues in an aquatic environment (Burkholder et. al., 2011). Much of these elements are removed during wastewater treatment, but if they are sent directly to a water source due to flooding, they can cause algae blooms and harm

Oxygen depletion will create stress which can take years to recover. These HABs can also suppress mammalian immune functions which results in mass mortalities of dolphins and manatees. This can be seen by a significant reduction in manatee lymphocytes in cell culture that are exposed to these toxins. With all of this evidence of the negative impacts of these toxins, it shows the need to recognize these biotoxins as significant stressors within south-west Florida coastal ecosystems.

Toxic algal blooms are occasions of excess reproduction of toxin-producing algae, making damage to the ecosystems and humans. Among the toxic algal blooms are ones caused by Pseudo-nitzschia species, producing a toxin called domoic acid (DA) (Tatters, Fu & Hutchins, 2012). These microalgae belong to diatoms and are spread within the Northwestern Atlantic region, causing sporadic issues in the Gulf of Maine (Fernandes et al., 2013), Chesapeake Bay and along the west coast since 2006 (Pistocchi et al., 2012).

Estuaries are known for being sensitive to several human activities, such as littering and building structures like dams and seawalls that affect their natural flow of freshwater. As estuaries can prevent nearby streets from flooding, they will consequently bring many of their contaminates as well (Baker), which can pose a serious issue for an estuary’s productivity and health. UFL geologist John M. Jager argues that “toxic substances and excess nutrients [from such human-made factors] contribute to fish diseases, algal blooms, and low dissolved oxygen,” all being a threat to the health of not only the estuary itself, but additionally that of its wildlife and even humans themselves.

There are innumerable sources of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay creating serious water quality issues. Run-off and discharge from natural, industrial and municipal sources causes nutrient overload, resulting in algae blooms. The algae blocks out the sun, which prevents native aquatic grasses from surviving. As the blooms die, they deplete the water of oxygen which is essential to the survival of all aquatic animals.

Sewage treatment plants, air pollution, animal feed lots, and polluted runoff from cropland are four major sources to this issue. All of these forms of pollution create an overabundance of nitrogen and phosphorous in the water. According to The Chesapeake Bay Foundation,“The largest source of pollution to the Bay comes from agricultural runoff, which contributes roughly 40 percent of the nitrogen and 50 percent of the phosphorus entering the Chesapeake Bay.” Although nitrogen and phosphorous are beneficial in moderation for the organisms living in the Chesapeake Bay, they cause a notable amount of damage in excess. Excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous cause algal blooms. There are many different types of algae, some are good for the ecosystem, and some are dangerous and can cause “dead zones” where aquatic life no longer flourishes. Too much or too little of both good and bad algae can be extremely harmful to the marine

This is a major issue, as some algae releases a deadly liver toxin into the water called microcystin, while consuming oxygen to fuel this process. We’ve found ourselves digging another grave for Lake Erie, so let’s try not to dig it any

Two of these such issues are algal blooms, caused by various cyanobacteria, and the introduction of carp into ecosystems. The effects of carp

Last summer in Toledo, toxic algae blooms contaminated the drinking water supply of 400,000 people (Toledo water crisis, par. 1). Algae, like all organisms, normally grow in balance with their ecosystems, limited by the amount of nutrients in the water. But sometimes, algae can reproduce very rapidly, which causes damage. Harmful algal blooms have been increasing in the United States to the point where they occur along most of the coastlines and are common in many places: Specifically, Lake Erie. Lake Erie has been affected by the blooms since the 1960’s and is still being affected. The impacts of these blooms are dangerous in many ways: humans’ health is placed at risk, ecosystems are altered, and marine mammals can either be injured or

HAB, Harmful Algae Blooms can kill thousands of fish, even in small amounts. All aquatic life depends on food, most algae are harmless however, and some are harmful. HAB causes harm through fishes the humans who eat it get sick because HAB is toxic. This also affects the sea-life food web.

Studying the influence of the physical environment on human behavior, it was as if the topic fit perfectly on me. When I was growing up with my six brothers and sisters, physical environment, privacy, sociality, did not exist, however something that really exists was crowding. Today my brothers and sister have moved on with their life, I learn to live and enjoy it my physical environment, my privacy, socially, and something I try to prevent is the crowding. In paper four categories of theory about human behavior and the physical environment will be discuss; they are stimulation theories, control theories, behavior setting theories, and Ecocritical Theories.