Mississippi River Environmental Analysis

The Mississippi River originates in Minnesota and winds it way down to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi is iconic to American culture, and there is a fondness for the Old Man River; where images of paddleboats and Tom Sawyer come to mind. What does not come to mind is our nation’s river is sick. According to a report in the St. Louis Dispatch, the Mississippi is the second most polluted river in the United States, coming in just behind the Ohio River (Bernhard, 2012). The Mississippi is experiencing a number of environmental problems from dead zones at the mouth of the Mississippi, plagued with invasive species such as Asian Carp, to being contaminated with industrial chemicals, raw sewage, agriculture pesticides, and plain old everyday trash.

I’m reporting to the watershed area of the Conodoguinet Creek to discuss possible pollution in the creek. A type of pollution that can be a problem is Eutrophication. Eutrophication is the enrichment of an ecosystem with chemical nutrients. The Conodoguinet Creek runs through agricultural land, which means a lot of fertilizer. Phosphates and nitrates are found in fertilizers. When farmers use too much fertilizers, it can leak into the creek when it rains. When a lot of fertilizer gets into the creek in can get too many nutrients, and then excessive amounts of algae will grow causing many more problems. Acid rain is also another problem. Acid rain is caused by fossil fuels being burned, from cars, factories, etc. Acid rain can get into the

Imagine an Earth devoid of clean rivers with no inland marine life or readily available freshwater. This situation may arise if humanity does not volunteer to end its polluting tendencies. Initially, each individual should focus on taking steps towards decontaminating his or her nearest water body. For those living in Delaware, this is the Delaware River, which is in need of drastic reform. “The Delaware River . . . is the fifth most-polluted river in the country, according to a report released . . . by Environment New Jersey” (Augenstein). However, this obstacle did not arise spontaneously. A recognized problem by the early eighteenth century, Delaware River pollution remained a serious issue for the next 300 years and mostly stemmed from rapid population growth and booming industrial activities (“Delaware River Water Quality”). As the years progressed, Delawareans continuously disregarded the Delaware River, and it is now immensely besmirched as a result of accumulating neglect for the river. Because of this, Delaware waters continued to befoul past the threshold of safety. Delaware waterways are currently unsafe for commercial use due to the presence of pollutants and parasites like Giardia and Cryptosporidium in the river that can cause significant health problems, especially in individuals with weakened immune systems (“Delaware”). The polluted Delaware River, sullied by companies despite the Clean Water Act, may cause a decline in Delaware’s’ marine life, human

Environmental impacts have been humanity 's constant for over trillions of decades.That is how we stay alive and alert.We are constantly innovating and adjusting to our surroundings.Even during the late centuries early civilizations have been adapting to their beautiful and majestic lives. For a prime example, the ancient mounds of the Cahokia clan and the largest earthworks in the Western.In the Mississippi River floodplain, where the water table was always high and where the could thrive,the Mississippi valley had been the first and only one to be so carefully engineered. Over the next century or two the Cahokia clan made the bedside of the Mississippi more than a pile of dirt, the city surrounding it was more than an agglomeration of

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in our lakes, rivers, streams, and drinking water sources cause the degradation of these water bodies and harm fish, wildlife, and human health." In the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory, states reported that agricultural nonpoint source (NPS) pollution was the leading source of water quality impacts on surveyed rivers and lakes, as well as the second largest source of impairments to wetlands, and a major contributor to contamination of surveyed estuaries and groundwater. Agricultural activities that cause NPS pollution include poorly located or managed animal feeding operations; overgrazing; plowing too often or at the wrong time; and improper, excessive or poorly timed application of pesticides, irrigation water and fertilizer. Since the 1960s, the high input of agriculture production has resulted in the surplus of nitrogen and phosphorus in farm fields, which run off into surface waters. High concentrations of nitrates and phosphates in surface waters could lead to eutrophication and instability of the aquatic ecosystems. Eutrophication is caused by the over-enrichment of water with phosphates and nitrates, a problem that has become a widespread in rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal

Richard Smith, Richard Alexander, and M.Gordon Wolman, Water Quality Trends in the Nation's Rivers. 235 Science 1607, 1987.

The Colorado River supplies water to most of the southwestern United States and despite this fact, pollution levels are continually rising and in some cases above acceptable limits. The Colorado River supplies and runs through five states and during some parts of the year to the Mexican border. During the rivers journey various types of pollutants come into contact to with it degrading the water quality downstream. The river water benefits humans in multiple ways the first obvious answer is by drinking it. Farming and other agricultural uses demand 60% and sometimes as much as 90% of its water. Using polluted water for irrigation passes the contaminants into the crops and ultimately

There is an extreme amount of pollution in the Missouri River. Lots of rivers are being polluted, but one of the worst is the Missouri River. For example “According to the EPA, in 2007 the amount of pollution dumped into the Missouri River within the boundaries of our state totaled pounds.” (Top Ten Frightening Facts About The Missouri River, 1). The amount of pollution that has been deposited into the river is terrifying. Even companies that we trust and are a part of our everyday life like Tyson fresh meat which is the world's leading beef and pork supplier have been found polluting and were fined one million dollars. Companies have even been found dumped cancer causing chemicals into the river, “In 2009, Bayer CropScience released 342 pounds of cancer-causing chemicals into the Missouri River.” (Top Ten Frightening Fact About The Missouri River, 2).

As a child, my favorite movie was Robots. It seems an odd choice—I otherwise conformed to stereotypical “girl” things—but the emphasis on mechanics and the central slogan of the film: See a need, fill a need, resonated with me. Eleven years later, I have come to embrace both the science and the motto fully. Thanks to Penn’s unique dedication to academics and service, and its location in my beloved hometown of Philadelphia, it tops my list.

In the course of the past year or so, the world has under gone immense natural disasters. Including but not limited to: hurricanes, tsunamis, wildfires, blizzards, and more. These unfortunate events all have a source of which they occurred. At the same time, the world’s oceans have under gone less noticeable but apparent changes as well. These changes include temperature variations, heightened acidification, intensified salinity, and more. However, a specific issue is the effect of Indiana’s activities impacting ocean life through nutrient and sediment pollution. There is a multifarious number of reasons that could affect ocean life, even in Indiana, which one will discuss throughout this report. One will describe sediment runoff, the

To enhance crop production in the area farmers apply commercial fertilizers, legumes, crop residue, manure, and land applied sludge to their crops. While these products help with crop production they contain high nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Excess nutrients are a major cause to impaired biotic communities and algae blooms. When algae blooms occur the dissolved oxygen content within the water decreases. (Upper Wabash River Watershed Management Plan ~ Phase 2, 2015)

Floodplains contribute a crucial part in the ecology of the lower Mississippi River (LMR), but due to human interactions they have severely affected the ecological functions of the floodplains. By researching spatial analysis, this happens when a floodplain becomes isolated from the main stem of the river by constructing levees (in order to prevent major floods in populated neighborhoods) and changing landscapes (for example, bulldozing forests and paving over that land with concrete). The levees built by the federal government in the Mississippi River has influenced the floodplain by altering the flow of water and raises the water levels that goes into the surrounding water systems (Changnon, 1998). Wetlands act as natures sponge to absorb

One solution would be to simply reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus-based fertilizers that end up in the Mississippi River. According to Chris Watts, an Environmental Regulation Expert, reducing the amount of nitrogen released into the Mississippi by 1.2 million metric tons (26%) would have no significant impact on the Mississippi watershed’s agricultural yields while significantly reducing the size of the Gulf’s hypoxic zones. Agency and government regulations also help: the EPA seems to be making the Gulf’s hypoxic zone a priority for the water initiatives, and the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force hopes to drastically reduce the size of the hypoxic

Around the world there are extensive river ecosystems and many different kind of animals that inhabit them. Fish are one of the most available animal species in a river ecosystem. Different fish species live in different places of a river environment. Salmon and trout often prefer the oxygen rich, fast flowing rivers, where pike, walleye and are more likely found in silty areas that have been a part of Eutrophication where oxygen is less abundant. fish are an excellent indicator for water quality and habitat . Amphibians also help show ecological indicators. Due to their high degree of sensitivity, they respond quickly to change in the environment, in particular to habitat fragmentation, ecosystem stress and impact of pesticides. When theses

From its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota, the Mississippi River flows south across the continent it enters the Gulf of Mexico southeast of New Orleans. A total distance of more than 2,300 miles. Although it begins as a clear stream the Mississippi picks up huge quantities of silt as it is joined by tributaries. Especially the sediment-laden Missouri River. The Missouri unites with the Mississippi above St. Louis and the Ohio joins it at Cairo, Illinois. After the Mississippi has reached its full glory it is a brown flood more than a mile wide. From bank to bank. Both the Amazon or the Congo, however discharge a much greater volume of water than does the mighty