Post Industrial Revolution: The Cause Of Water Pollution

Water is probably the most important resource we as people have. Humans can survive without food for several weeks, but without water we would die in less than a week. On a slightly less dramatic note, millions of liters of water are needed every day worldwide for washing, irrigating crops, and cooling industrial processes, not to mention leisure industries such as swimming pools and water-sports centers. Despite our dependence on water, we use it as a dumping ground for all sorts of waste, and do very little to protect the water supplies we have.

Air and water pollution is not a new concept or a new issue to the world, as a matter of fact even before the raise of industrial and modern city existed, people made factors that are most to blame for causing air and water pollution but, during the industrial revolution the issue of pollution became a real concern, and this is when building transformed from wood to steel, when factories started shifting from traditional means of production towards mechanization that needs engines and fossil

When looking at the ocean pollution caused by people it impacts animals and ourselves as humans. For many years, the unregulated dumping of chemicals, toxins and other waste directly into lakes, rivers, streams and oceans triggered disease and other risks to humans and wildlife(Calhoun 89). This can affect

This seemingly repetitive historical issue is occurring because of constant advancements in factories and industries. In a way, the more the world produces; the more monstrous the oceans will become. Factories and industries help create man-made pollutants that people use, thus harming oceans and the sea life within. The National Ocean Service stated in an online article, “Eighty percent of pollution to the marine environment comes from the land” (NOAA para. 1). Plenty of man-made pollutants produced from factories travel along sidewalks, down into drainages or even into the soil, and proceed into oceans. In other cases, the wind may pick up man-made pollutants, carry them across the sky, and release them into oceans. Man-made pollutants in the oceans will take plenty of work and determination to be fixed, due to the world’s updates and advancements.

There has been an increased presence within the water of toxic chemicals, metals, and disease causing microorganisms throughout the years. In general, the main cause of water pollution is the sewage pipes as well as the factories which are slowly becoming more in control. Although the contamination of water has slowly began to be stopped there is still heavy contamination from the waterways from the farmlands which tend to carry fertilizers, pesticides, as well as organic matter. Rain is a major contributor to water contamination from the different acids and heavy metals which fall with the rain contribute to the water

As the world develops and the human population grows there is more pollution being dumped into the oceans, causing major problems to marine life and ecosystems. Major causes of marine pollution involve non-point pollutants, marine garbage, toxic ocean pollutants and sewage disposal in oceans. From heavy metal poisoning including lead and mercury killing predators such as sharks and whales, to waste getting trapped in the digestive tracts of marine animals, this essay focuses on how human interference causes horrifying problems to the marine life, but also how to fix it. It will also explore the normal activities of people including farming and how this can cause an imbalance in an ecosystem. Everyday activities can cause massive nutrient

Even though, fertilizers are needed to supply essential nutrients to the growth of plants; an excess of them is one of the major issues contributing to pollution in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Fertilizers are mainly composed of two elements: nitrogen and phosphorus.(4) Throughout the years, millions of pounds of this nutrients are applied all around the Chesapeake Bay Watershed; everything not absorbed by the soil or taken up by plants eventually reaches the Chesapeake Bay through storm-water runoff. This nutrients end up creating algae blooms in the water, which reduce the amount of sunlight available to underwater grasses; not allowing plants to photosynthesize and produce the food they need to survive. Algae then decomposes creating dead zones killing fish and other species since oxygen is needed for any organism to live. (5)

As humanity continues to prosper agriculturally, industrially, and in population, companies, as well as local communities, have obsessively used the Ocean to toss their waste without consequences. The formation of dead zones has been intensified by the increase runoff of fertilizers and the burning of fossil fuels. Enhanced primary production causes algae to bloom at a constant rate creating a layer near the surface. This layer acts as a roof to vegetation below resulting in a lack of oxygen which organisms use to live. According to Robert Diaz and Rutger Rosenberg, “Dead zones have now been reported from more than 400 systems, affecting a total area of more than 245,000 square kilometers, and are probably a key stressor on marine ecosystems.” Specifically, the Chesapeake Bay has been polluted to the point where areas have now been uninhabitable to marine life. Although waste disposal is a difficult issue to solve, polluting bodies of water endangers the marine life, environment, and health of organisms.

Pollution was one of the major effects caused by the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Some places in England such as Manchester and Birmingham received nicknames such as "black country" because of the ridiculous amounts of soot and smog in the regions. These types of pollution were caused by giant factories operating and the consumption of coal.

Throughout the course of the industrial revolution, there was a major increase in steel and iron production. While this was great for the development of railroads, making goods cheaper in store but, it had some major negative effects on the environment. With the increase of supply and demand increased factories attempted to maximize the output of their factories by keeping them running as long as possible typically implementing a “sun up to sundown” work day. Factories even went has far as hiring children in order to maximize productivity.

A Dead Zone can be made by human impact from runoff excess nutrient water. This water will increase the growth rate of algae, which after it starts to sink, begins to decompose. The process uses up a lot of oxygen; coincidentally, the supply of oxygen for the organisms

When a person is asked what water is, the first things that they say are; water is drinkable, used for showers, simple, washing, etc.. But people don’t really know how complex and important water is for our kind. Water is one of the most precious things we humans have, but we don’t realize it and we damage it without caring for the consequences. Water and water pollution are two things that we should all have in mind. Even though we see water as just a liquid, but there’s more to it than its form or state.

Ocean “dead zones” are floating heaps of trash that have floated away from coasts because of currents. Currently, a little less than 2% of our oceans are made up of dead zones, according to Ker Than (2009). Marine life below and around these areas cannot survive due to the lack of oxygen. This phenomenon often happens in creeks and streams as well when a sewage pipe runs into that body of water and an oxygen lag occurs when the sewage runs downstream. No aquatic life can live in this area, other than some bacteria and worms, because of low oxygen levels and other materials, minerals, and vitamins that can be too much for delicate aquatic life.

To continue, erosion is also a prominent cause that brings contaminants into watercourses[ix]. Other important toxins that can end up in the water cycle and affect water quality, plants and animal[x] are metal sources found in fertilizers, animal feed and manure, such as the nutrients of copper, zinc, manganese and iron.[xi] Finally, high concentration of nutrient waste, such as domestic sewage effluents, can cause cyanobacteria to expand[xii]. Once water contaminants reach a lake in large concentration, cyanobacteria can suddenly develop and “result in safe water bodies becoming a toxic soup[xiii]”.

The oceans of the world seem to be under attack from mankind and nature itself. Global warming is causing the melting of the polar ice causing the level of the oceans to rise. Garbage patches of plastic particles are floating in huge areas with some settling to the ocean floor. Acidification of the ocean water from fertilizer use is causing large so called dead zones where oxygen deprivation kills off plant and aquatic life. Many areas of the ocean have been dumping grounds for garbage, whether sludge like, solid, or chemical in nature. This paper will concentrate on the dead zones of the oceans, their causes, and the possible solutions to this problem.