Chesapeake Bay And Pollution
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CHESAPEAKE BAY AND POLLUTION
Photo by chrissam42
There are many problems facing the Chesapeake Bay.
-air pollution
-climate change
-agriculture
-chemical contaminants
Photo by ankakay
Air Pollution
Air pollution doesn’t just cloud the air we breathe. It can also harm our land and water. What goes up must come down, and pollution released into the air—by cars, trucks, gas-powered lawn tools, power plants and other sources—will fall back to the earth’s surface, where it could wind up in our waterways.
Photo by chesbayprogram
airborne pollution particles fall onto the land or into the water, sometimes in the form of dry particles and sometimes attached to rain, snow or other precipitation.
Air pollution
-nitrogen
-chemical contaminants
Photo by Aristocrats-hat
Climate change
A changing climate will affect the Chesapeake Bay. Some effects—like rising seas, warming water temperatures and prolonged periods of extreme weather—have already been observed in the region. Other impacts include a rise in coastal flooding and shoreline erosion and changes in wildlife abundance and migration patterns. Chesapeake Bay Program partners are working to increase the climate resilience of resources and communities across the watershed.
Photo by Jaimito Cartero
Agriculture
Close to one-quarter of land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed is devoted to agricultural production. Agriculture is essential to all people: farms provide us with food and fiber, natural areas, and aesthetic and environmental benefits. But agriculture is also the single largest source of nutrient and sediment pollution entering the Bay. While conventional tillage, fertilizers and pesticides can be beneficial to crops, their excessive use can pollute rivers and streams, pushing nutrients and sediment into waterways.
Photo by Florian Seiffert (F*)
Agriculture is the single largest source of nutrient and sediment pollution entering the Chesapeake Bay. According to 2012 estimates from the Bay Program, agriculture contributes 42 percent of the nitrogen, 58 percent of the phosphorous and 58 percent of the sediment entering the Bay. Unfortunately, some agricultural practices—including over-irrigating farmland, over-tilling soil and over-applying fertilizers and pesticides—can push pollution into the Bay and its local waterways.
Photo by Infomastern
Chemical Contaminants
Almost three-quarters of the Chesapeake Bay’s tidal waters are considered impaired by chemical contaminants. These contaminants include pesticides, pharmaceuticals, metals and more, and can harm the health of both humans and wildlife. From the insecticides that are put on farm fields to the cleaners we use to disinfect our homes, contaminants can enter the Bay and its tributaries in several different ways. While production bans have lowered the presence of some contaminants in the watershed, others are still widely used today.
Photo by arbyreed
Small, bottom-dwelling organisms take up contaminants through skin contact or while feeding
Larger fish eat contaminated organisms and accumulate toxins in their tissues
Birds, mammals and other wildlife eat contaminated fish
Photo by arbyreed
These are just some of the issues of the Chesapeake bay. Together we can reduce, if not stop, these harmful hazards.
Photo by citron_smurf
