The Chesapeake Bay Is The Most Massive Estuary Of The United States Of America

The Chesapeake Bay is a 200-mile-long estuary extending from Norfolk, VA to Havre de grace Maryland. On average this bay contains about 68 trillion liters of water. This bay is the largest estuary in North America. It inhabits more than 3,000 species of plants, animals, and fish. “Since the early twentieth century, the Chesapeake Bay has experienced serious environmental degradation. Problems include large reductions in sea grass, reduced amounts of finfish and shellfish (especially oysters and crab), seasonal depletions in dissolved oxygen, and increases in sedimentation.” (Atkins & Anderson, 2003) These changes are brought on by pollution (Eutrophication and Toxic Contamination), development, deforestation, and agriculture. And according

It is their home, their thriving place. According to the National WIldlife Federation, ¨The Bay supports 3,600 species of plant and animal life, including more than 300 fish species and 2,700 plant types.”. Not only does the wildlife depend on the bay, but humans do as well. The Chesapeake Bay contains a 64,000-square-mile watershed, this watershed provides large amounts of drinking water for us in Maryland, along with several other states. Everyday, the condition of the water declines, meaning the home for wildlife and our drinking water does too. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation pointed out that, ¨Toxic chemicals are constantly entering the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams via wastewater, agriculture, stormwater, and air pollution. These harmful chemicals, such as mercury, PCBs, and PAHs, do not break down easily and persist in the environment for many years, impacting not just fish and birds, but humans as well.¨. How important does the restoration of the bay sound

Scientists and researchers began giving a large volume of effort and look into the extremely complex problems that face the Chesapeake Bay. When research for the improving and saving of the Bay’s overall health began it seemed very simple and there were only a couple of problems. The problems included nutrients from agricultural runoff; these nutrients were phosphorus and nitrogen. The combination of the nutrients in the Bay caused a large volume of algae that choked some of the marine life. While bringing in algae the nutrients also killed grasses on the seafloor. These seafloor bed grasses that once covered more than half of the Chesapeake Bay’s floor now only covered a tenth of their original area. Though the estuary was having problems it did not receive the terrible pollution from industries that many large rivers and lakes do in other urban areas (Brown, p. 397).

Types of human activity that affect the Bay's health. Humans either do not see or do not care about the pollution they send into the water. As humans build more factories close to the water or send more waste out of their homes it goes into the Bay causing many problems for the ecosystem. "waste from people's homes, stores, and offices is also treated and discharged into the Bay and its rivers. " (Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem) People do not understand the effects of pollution the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem says that people believe the water where the pollution is going will dilute the pollution and won’t be as bad. Humans do no understand the problems pollution will cause. The population of the Blue Crabs in the Bay was below average for over 10 years. From 1998 until 2009 the crab ecosystem was so unhealthy they were unable to live and reproduce.

The Chesapeake Bay, which derives from the Algonquin word Chesepiooc meaning “great shellfish bay”, has been around for a very long time. Approximately 35 million years ago, a rare bolide (a comet- or asteroid-like object) hit what is now the lower tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, creating a 55-mile-wide crater. The bolide created what geologists call the “Exmore Crater,” which they believe was as large as Rhode Island and as deep as the Grand Canyon. Although this bolide did not create the Chesapeake Bay, it helped determine that a bay would eventually be located there.

One of the most poorly understood causes ocean pollution is urban runoff. Urban runoff is also one of the leading causes of ocean pollution, Surfrider agrees, “Urban runoff is often the primary source of ocean pollution. The Ocean Friendly Gardens (OFG) Program educates and assists people in creating landscapes that utilize native plants, permeable ground covers and water retention features to prevent urban runoff, create wildlife habitats and design beautiful spaces” (Surfrider). Surfrider has a program called The Ocean Friendly Gardens where Surfrider

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.

Scene in Fig. 1.1., the Chesapeake Bay is substantial in size; at roughly 64,000 miles, it contains roughly fifty rivers and thousands of streams and creeks. It encompasses parts of 6 states, including all of Washington, DC. The Chesapeake Bay is what is known as a watershed, an area that contributes to the drainage to a water body, stream, river, lake or ocean. Rainwater that falls within the 64,000 square miles that is the Chesapeake Bay will subsequently travel through many streams and rivers, eventually making its way into the largest estuary system in the United States.

The food chain of the Chesapeake Bay is very simple. It has fish, big fish depend on small fish. The small fish feed off of oysters or sometimes zooplankton. Oysters then feed off of many small zooplankton. Once, it gets down to what the zooplankton feed off of it is mostly algae or grass. Now, since there is a major decrease in the algae population, this

Our watershed, the chesapeake bay stretches more than 64,000 square miles and is home to about 18 million people.The bay provides us with a lot of things like fishes,salt and water for farming etc. But, the bay is starting to get polluted and many organisms in the bay are dying because of sediments, algae blooms etc.

Overall the best solution from the three is to plant more trees around Chesapeake Bay so it will clean the air. A positive environmental consequence is that the more trees that they plant will make the air cleaner. When the air is cleaner it will decrease the chance of acid rain, and acid rain will make the water worse for the animals. If the animals stay alive then more of the wildlife will come back and that will revive the ecosystem around the bay. A negative environmental would be that the trees will take a long time to grow. It takes 3-4 years for a normal tree to grow, that is way to long to wait for the pollution problem to be

When it comes to Pensacola Bay there are many environmental factors to consider when wanting to know how well the area is doing in relation to quality of the land, air and water. In this report, the examination will be upon the water quality of Pensacola Bay. The water quality of Pensacola Bay is very complex and in order for ecosystems and organisms to survive in a small contained space the chemistry has to be just right. This report will examine the quality of the water in the past decade through research and information provided by agencies on the local, state and federal level on the water quality of Pensacola Bay.

The San Francisco Bay was stumbled upon by Spanish soldiers in 1769. Upon the time of its discovery, the Bay and the San Francisco Estuary traversed 500 square miles consisting of open water as well as another 850 square miles of fresh and salt water marsh. There was beautiful scenery along with the existence of various species in the beginning of its discovery. Various types of species included sea otters, whales, large salmon, mussels and oysters, large flocks of geese and duck, as well as shorebirds.

This spring, record breaking floodwaters along the Mississippi River caused massive damage in nine states, totaling over $25 billion dollars in damage (Watts, 2011). In most areas the floodwaters have receded, however there is concern that even a little rain could cause more flooding due to the already saturated land. As cities and towns are beginning the restoration process, one thing caused by the flooding waters cannot be restored. Pollutants’ such as nitrogen from fertilizer, due to this area being primarily composed of farming land, is making its way toward the Gulf of Mexico. Every year pollutants traveling in the Mississippi River enter the Gulf and contribute to the Coastal Dead Zone; however, this year the Dead Zone in the Gulf

Eutrophication is the slow process that occurs naturally in aquatic ecosystems, such as lakes and ponds. It is a result of an aging body of water gradually increasing its concentration of nutrients. This happens because the intervaling death and growth of organisms that, for whatever given reason, don’t cancel each other out, and modify the fertility of the ecosystem. Eutrophication is not inherently bad, but the hastening of this process through artificial means can be very harmful to the ecosystem, and ultimately end in failure.