Determining Cause and Effect-Draft Version

DETERMINING CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF WATER POLLUTION ON LAKE HURON Name: Course: Professor Name: (May 15, 2012) Determining the Causes and Effects of Water Pollution on Lake Huron Introduction Like other Great Lakes, Lake Huron contain various wildlife species and is in great danger of being polluted. The pollution is harmful to wildlife, fish and to people living within the region. On the other hand, the quality of water has become an important issue along the southern shores of Lake Huron. Thus, there exist various causes for this pollution. Nonpoint-source pollution normally represents polluted runoff. Water that washes over the land regardless of the source picks up a myriad of contaminants including sand, salt and oil from agricultural chemicals, roadways, nutrient and poisonous materials from rural and urban areas. Beginning from a point source pollution like industrial waste from drainage pipes and non-point source pollution such as fertilizer and pesticide runoff emanating from farms, such pollutants including others contain lethal effects upon the lakes (Bredin, 2002). Despite the fact that there exist various causes for water pollution in Lake Huron, the majority of these causes fall in three classes. These are Nonpoint source pollution, point pollution and air pollution. Point source pollution signifies mercury, sewage and fecal matter emanating from treatment plants and industrial facilities being released into the lake. On the other hand, non-point pollution implies polluted water runoff coming from lawns or crops that contain contaminants. Such contaminants may be sand, salt or oil from roadsides, agricultural chemicals, toxic and nutrient materials from rural and urban areas. In addition, the other cause of water pollution in Lake Huron is air pollution. The quality of air of the Ontario Lake Huron Shoreline constitutes the worst in the southern parts of Ontario. Additional chemicals which can be deposited into the lake through the atmosphere are lead, pesticides, dioxins and furans. On the other hand, heat also constitutes a pollutant. For example, various power plants utilize water in some cases to cool overheating components. After being used, the water is released into the lake where it changes the temperatures of the lake. This kind of heat is a pollution form as it may be harmful and may kill aquatic life systems like various species of sensitive fish. In addition, a case of widespread pollution is the legal effluent of sewage alongside other chemicals into Lake Huron. In the real sense, Detroit, Michigan normally reports a disposal of more than 700 million gallon containing wastewater on a daily basis. Also, it reports 150 million pounds of poisonous polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) annually into the River Detroit. On the other hand, this river acts as a connection between Lake Erie and Lake Huron (Shelton, 1999). The adverse effects of water pollution on Lake Huron include the following. First, water pollution has resulted into reduced quality of water. The pollution has contaminated soils and damaged the majority of the lake ecosystems. This has in turn affected the level of recreation along the shoreline of the lake. Due to water pollution, the lake has been characterized by increased cases of poor water quality, blooms in algae, restricted utilization of public beaches and aesthetic problems. All these effects have resulted into an increase in the number of complaints to various federal agencies. For example, the outbreak of E.coli increased concerns by people on the quality of water in the lake. The important point is that people are normally in close contact with the shore line of the lake. ...