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    Cause and Effects of Water Pollution

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    ronnda
    This document discusses the causes and effects of water pollution. It identifies two main categories of contaminants - direct and indirect. Direct contaminants come from industries like refineries and factories that dump waste directly into water sources. Indirect contaminants enter water from soil, groundwater, and the atmosphere. The effects of water pollution are wide-ranging, including killing marine life, spreading disease, and limiting recreational and commercial activities that depend on clean water. If left unchecked, water pollution poses serious threats to life on Earth.

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    Cause and Effects of Water Pollution

    Uploaded by

    ronnda
    10K views3 pages
    This document discusses the causes and effects of water pollution. It identifies two main categories of contaminants - direct and indirect. Direct contaminants come from industries like refineries and factories that dump waste directly into water sources. Indirect contaminants enter water from soil, groundwater, and the atmosphere. The effects of water pollution are wide-ranging, including killing marine life, spreading disease, and limiting recreational and commercial activities that depend on clean water. If left unchecked, water pollution poses serious threats to life on Earth.

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    Cause and Effects of Water Pollution

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    This document discusses the causes and effects of water pollution. It identifies two main categories of contaminants - direct and indirect. Direct contaminants come from industries like refineries and factories that dump waste directly into water sources. Indirect contaminants enter water from soil, groundwater, and the atmosphere. The effects of water pollution are wide-ranging, including killing marine life, spreading disease, and limiting recreational and commercial activities that depend on clean water. If left unchecked, water pollution poses serious threats to life on Earth.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    10K views3 pages

    Cause and Effects of Water Pollution

    Uploaded by

    ronnda
    This document discusses the causes and effects of water pollution. It identifies two main categories of contaminants - direct and indirect. Direct contaminants come from industries like refineries and factories that dump waste directly into water sources. Indirect contaminants enter water from soil, groundwater, and the atmosphere. The effects of water pollution are wide-ranging, including killing marine life, spreading disease, and limiting recreational and commercial activities that depend on clean water. If left unchecked, water pollution poses serious threats to life on Earth.

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    of 3

    R.

    Leigh Baker

    Engl & 101

    T. Joseph

    5 May 2009/Cause and Effect Essay

    Anything humans do, which causes harmful effects to the Earth’s bodies of water is

    called water pollution. This can include pollution to lakes, rivers, oceans, creeks, and even

    streams. There are several causes of water pollution, but there are usually two main categories:

    direct and indirect contaminants. Within these categories, contaminants then break down into

    subcategories of organics, inorganic, radioactive, and acid/bases. This broad range of

    contaminants comes from many different sources, and affects the world’s waters differently.

    Direct contaminants are usually describing pollution caused by refineries, factories, waste

    treatment plants, and other urbanindustries. This type of pollution occurs because these

    industries directlypour their waste into streams and rivers, which lead out into our oceans. These

    wastesinclude very harmful substances and most of them are not bridgeable. In addition the hot

    water discharged from these plants increases the temperature of the water, which also changes

    the water chemistry; resulting in a process known as “thermal pollution”.

    Indirect causes include contaminants that enter water supplies from soils and

    groundwater. Soils contain residues from human agricultural actions such as fertilizers,

    pesticides, and other forms of improperly disposed waste. Atmospheric conditions such as rain,

    or snow showers, pick up dirt, and silt and transfer them into larger bodies of water.

    Gaseous emissions from automobiles, factories, industries, and even bakeries, also play a part in

    the atmospheric cycle, which re-introduces the gases to the earth in the forms of various showers.

    The effects of water pollution to any body of water can be devastating to the

    environment, the people, and the animals that depend on that source of water. The effects of
    water pollution vary greatly dependingon what type of pollutant is involved and how large the

    body of water is. Major metropolises tend to notice more severe effects of water pollution, this is

    due to garbage, and chemical dumping that occurs either legally or illegally, resulting in a mess

    of water withfoul odors, as well as toxicity. Fertilizers and oils also cause trouble by choking out

    vegetation, which are vital to healthy water systems. This results in the water system emerging

    into green, slimy swamps, full of dead fish and unpleasant smells.

    One of the most seriously troubling effects of water pollution is the death of marine lives

    that make its home in the aquatic ecosystem. Many types of marine life including Fish, birds,

    whales, and dolphins have perished on beaches, becoming noticeable casualties of water

    pollution. This type of pollution affects the food chain from the microorganisms to human

    beings, who encounter infectious diseases such as hepatitis because of eating contaminated

    seafood. Pollution can also affect the quality of life of humans, by taking away jobs from

    crabbers, fishermen, while placing stiff limitations on recreational pastimes such as sport fishing,

    and swimming.

    The effects of water pollution are not always immediate, or immediately noticed at the

    point of contamination. The parties responsible for the pollution sometimes never think of them.

    Clearly, the problems associated with water pollution have the capabilities to disrupt life on

    Earth enormously. In the United States, Congress has passed laws to try to combat water

    pollution, acknowledging that water pollution is, indeed, very serious in how it severely affects

    the human race. If there are no measures taken and water pollution continues, life on earth will

    suffer severely. However, with knowledge, consideration, and preparation, water pollution could

    decrease. It does not take much effort -- just a little thought

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