This video is great for grasping a basic understanding of the water cycle and how we, as humans, affect it.
In case the video gets clipped, which I suspect it will, link (here)
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Art & Design Perspectives III, School of Art & Design, University of Michigan
After watching this video I decided to find out more about the water cycle and what we do to it…
ReplyDeleteAlthough such rivers as the Mississippi River may seem huge to us, they are a very small part of the entire hydrologic cycle. Note that only about 0.2% of the water is located in rivers, lakes, or the atmosphere. And even though there is so much water on our planet, people need to fully grasp just how much we affect the water cycle, and what in turn happens to the environment.
The earth’s supply of water remains constant, however, people can affect the quantity and quality available. Large cities accelerate water drainage rates through road drains and city sewer systems. This changes the rates of infiltration, evaporation, and transpiration that would normally occur.
And when we establish dams for energy purposes, the damming of a river creates a reservoir upstream from the dam. The reservoir waters spill out into the surrounding environment, flooding the natural habitats that existed before the dam’s construction. To date, over 400,000 sq km of the earth have been flooded due to damming. The newly created reservoir has more surface area than the river would have had, and therefore more evaporation occurs than is normal. This can lead to a loss of up to 2.1 meters in depth per year. According to recent studies, reservoirs contribute to greenhouse gas emissions as well. The initial filling of a reservoir floods the existing plant material, leading to the death and decomposition of the carbon-rich plants and trees. The rotting organic matter releases large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. The decaying plant matter itself settles to the non-oxygenated bottom of the stagnant reservoir, and the decomposition—unmitigated by a flow pattern that would oxygenate the water—produces and eventually releases dissolved methane
What! I most definitely was in the dark about dams. I literally had no idea dams even produced negative affects on our planet. This video has certainly put everything in perspective for me.
Water is an essential to everyday life on earth. It is composed of the elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Water is also among the few substances, that exist on earth, with 3 distinct states, solid, liquid, and gas. It moves through earth in a continuous cycle of evaporation, precipitation, and runoff (usually ending in a larger body of water such as the sea, or the ocean.) An average human can survive up to two or more weeks without food, but he or she cannot survive past a week without water. So if nearly 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, one must wonder why certain parts of the world don’t have access to drinkable water. In fact, less 1% of the world’s fresh water is readily accessible for direct human use according to the World Health Organization in 2008.
ReplyDeleteMany environmentalists are also worried that water will eventually be depleted. Although the amount of water on earth remains the same, the problem occurs when we consume more water than the system can replenish itself. On top of that, factories pollute the Earth’s freshwater, further reducing the clean water available. Such factories include waste incinerators, coal-fired power plants, and various other industries displacing mercury, dioxins, and Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) into the environment. 3.575 million people die each year from a water-related disease, of these 3.575 million people, 98% of them occur in the developing world. In one family’s scenario in Prenter, West Virginia, the mother explains how she watched six of her neighbors develop a brain tumor caused by water pollution via coal miners dumping via coal waste into the water. At one point, a creek in the narrator’s front yard was solid black for up to two hours. It is unfortunate as the mother describes the possibility of her children absorbing in magnesium, lead through their skin simply from taking a bath. (New York Times.) If this is one situation happening in just the United States alone, I can’t even begin to imagine the predicaments that people in developing countries are facing. Mercury contamination is also another issue because it can case severe brain and nervous system damage and children are the most vulnerable while still developing the womb of the mother. Not only has this affected humans, but other wildlife animals that depend on fish as their diet such as eagles, otters, etc are also extremely susceptible to mercury poisoning.
Post #12 Part 1
Daisy
According to water.org, 13.2 gallons of water is needed per person for daily requirements of sanitation, bathing, cooking needs, as well as survival. Considering this number, if the population continues to increase at alarming rates, the natural replenish rate of water will not be able to meet our demands. Agriculture consumes nearly 70% of the world’s water. Not only do they consume 70% of the world’s water, but it pollutes the water primarily form the use of fertilizers. Fertilizers are composed of nitrogen and oxygen molecules allowing their crops to grow, which, unfortunately, will eventually runoff into the river, which flows into lakes or oceans. When the fertilizer reaches the water, it increases the growth of algae that use up all of the oxygen. This creates large “dead zones.” The Everglades in Florida, for example, once covered 8,000,000 acres, but now due to agricultural growth, urban expansion, and the misuse of water, the land that it covers has been severely reduced to half its original size in just one century. All of these beautiful ecosystems are being gradually destroyed by human practices, and the ecosystems are bringing the wildlife that it sustains down with it. The current population is already straining water resources, what would happen if the population only continued to skyrocket?
ReplyDeleteAnother form of pollution includes the compound release of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon into the atmosphere. (EPA) When these compounds react with water molecules in its gaseous form, they produce acids, and thus, we have acid rain. (Note, in chemistry we learned that acidic substances carry large amounts of hydrogen ions, therefore, the more hydrogen ions there are, the lower the pH level, the higher the acidity.) Acid rain damages plants and animals, and on top of that, the decay of buildings, statues, and sculptures that are not replaceable. The contamination of water occurs at so many different levels and on all three states of its existence, solid, liquid, and gas.
This video really inspired me to research further on the topic of water, it’s made me really aware of the damages humans make for our water, regardless of what form it is in.
Post #12 Part 2
Daisy