potential changes to the atmosphere and climate due to human, biologic, and geologic activity.
The oceans are environmentally and economically important. Human activities and public policy have important consequences for the oceans. The impact of human activities, such as waste disposal, construction, and agriculture, affect the water quality within watershed systems and ultimately the ocean. Pollution and overfishing can harm or deplete valuable resources.
identify the effects of human activities on the oceans.
Water is continuously being passed through the hydrologic cycle. Fresh water is necessary for survival and most human activities.
Earth’s fresh water supply is finite. Geological processes, such as erosion, and human activities, such as waste disposal, can pollute water supplies.
Clean water resources, while renewable, are directly impacted by human activity through extraction and pollution.
Fossil fuels are nonrenewable and may cause pollution, but they are relatively cheap and easy to use once they are extracted.
describe how different types of pollution can pollute the Chesapeake Bay even though the pollutant source may be hundreds of miles from the Bay.
Estuaries, like the Chesapeake Bay, are areas where fresh and salt water mix, producing variations in salinity and high biological activity. Chemical pollution and sedimentation are great threats to the well-being of estuaries and oceans.