CHAPTER ONE 1.1 Introduction Earth is the water planet with more than two-thirds of its surface covered by water. Most of life on Earth is also primarily composed of water; our cells‚ and those of plants and animals are composed of approximately 70 percent water. Vast quantities of water also cycle through the Earth ’s atmosphere‚ oceans‚ land‚ and biosphere over both short and long time scales. This grand cycling of water is called the hydrologic cycle. Precipitation‚ evaporation
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Point-source pollution refers to mercury‚ fecal matter‚ and sewage‚ from treatment plants or industrial facilities‚ being dumped into the Lake. Nonpoint-source pollution refers to runoff of polluted water from crops or lawns which contain contaminants. These contaminants may be oil‚ sand‚ and salt from roadways‚ agricultural chemicals‚ and nutrients and toxic materials from urban or rural areas (The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation‚ 1998-2012). There are many different causes for the pollution
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“rapid and excessive growths of a plankton population.” Since 1998‚ scientists have been aware of sea lions and their pups being intoxicated by domoic acids from toxic algal blooms. Agricultural and suburban areas are the main culprits as excess fertilizer and pesticides from fields and lawns are washed away in urban runoff and travel to our oceans by stormdrain. The nutrients in fertilizers and pesticides are overfeeding the algae‚ producing toxic algal blooms that expel poisonous
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The rise of toxic Microcystis algae blooms in Lake Eerie A combination of climate change and agricultural practices have led to an excess run off of phosphorus in Lake Erie‚ resulting in excess algae blooms spread across the surface of the water. Phosphorus is the key nutrient that dictates algae growth and abundance. Microcystis‚ a species of cyanobacteria characterized by its blue colour continually contaminates the waters‚ and damages marine ecosystems‚ due to its toxicity. Being the smallest
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to the rise of human civilization‚ with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants (i.e. crops) creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and stratified societies. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. Agriculture is also observed in certain species of ant and termite. Agriculture encompasses a wide variety of specialties and techniques‚ including ways to expand the lands suitable for plant raising‚ by digging water-channels and other
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snowmelt. Most precipitation falls back into the oceans or onto land‚ where‚ due to gravity‚ the precipitation flows over the ground as surface runoff. A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape‚ with streamflow moving water towards the oceans. Runoff‚ and ground-water seepage‚ accumulate and are stored as freshwater in lakes. Not all runoff flows into rivers. Much of it soaks into the ground as
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Sustainable and Unsustainable development Sustainable Development Concept Sustainable development is a pattern of social and structured economic transformations (i.e. development) which optimizes the economic and societal benefits available in the present‚ without jeopardizing the likely potential for similar benefits in the future. A primary goal of sustainable development is to achieve a reasonable and equitably distributed level of economic well-being that can be perpetuated continually for
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plants and animals depend on water for their growth‚ so the water must be kept clean. The major contributors to water pollution can be classified in three categories‚ industrial‚ agricultural and municipal. Examples of industrial wastes that can contaminant bodies of water are oil spills‚ acid rain‚ and waste runoff from industrial buildings and factories. Oil spills‚ eve though they do not happen that often‚ can spill millions of gallons of its crude oil cargo into the ocean causing long-term
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WATER CYCLE Water Cycle‚ also known as hydrologic cycle‚ is a process that is constantly recycling the Earth ’s supply of water. This is important because humans‚ animals‚ and plants all need water to survive. It is controlled by the sun‚ which produces energy in the form of heat. This heat energy causes the water in the world ’s oceans‚ lakes‚ etc. to warm and evaporate. As the water is heated‚ it changes its phase from liquid to gas. This gas is called water vapor and this process is called
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can store frozen water for thousands of years. Most water falls back into the oceans or onto land as rain‚ where the water flows over the ground as surface runoff. A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape‚ with streamflow moving water towards the oceans. Runoff and groundwater are stored as freshwater in lakes. Not all runoff flows into
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