Water Research Paper

Submitted By epjohnson0423
Words: 1163
Pages: 5

BIO-220
June 3, 2012

Water… Is it natural? Water is one of the primary substances for life and life cannot exist without it. One must consistently add fresh water to the body in order to keep it hydrated and healthy because it plays a vital role in nearly every bodily function. In addition, water is essential for proper digestion, nutrient absorption, and chemical reactions. Is water natural? Imagine not being able to drink clean water as a result of pollution. Water pollution is a very critical environmental issue and is harmful to the health and life of both humans and animals. Humans around the world must become aware of the dangers and the role they play in the quality of the water around them and improve in the ways water pollution is treated. In this essay, one will ascertain a thorough understanding of some of the causes and some of the dangers of water pollution and ways to prevent it. Even though water is a vital part of human life, many of the causes of water pollution come from humans and their ignorance. To name a few, water pollution is caused by agricultural runoffs, leaking sewer lines, and accidental leaks and spills. Agricultural runoffs are the result of manmade products like pesticides, insecticides, or herbicides and other waste from a large area of land. These products are made to help crops during their growth process and prevent them from being eaten by insects. As a result, these chemicals are washed into waters through natural processes that form increased nitrates and phosphates that are harmful to humans and have a very harsh impact on the environment. Global warming aside, agricultural runoffs are considered one of today’s biggest environmental threats. Leaking sewer lines are another cause of water pollution. Sewer lines are manmade instruments that carry human waste to different industrial plants that may leak due to time and or failure and generally is untreated raw sewage. These lines are buried deep underground below the active portion of the soil and when the leaking takes place the sewage enters ground water directly. Sewage wastes then end up contaminating surface water. Accidental leaks and spills is a topic that most are familiar with and have heard about. These types of water pollution are not only critical to human life but also to marine life. Leaks and spills can happen at any time simply because of the handling of chemicals. Recently the Gulf has experienced this very tragic cause of water pollution and will be recovering for many years to come. In life, one can face many dangers from the time of birth to the time of death but the dangers of water pollution should not be part of that equation. The killing of life that inhabits water-based ecosystems, the disruption of the natural food chain and the death of human life are just a few of the dangers associated with water pollution. Water pollution can and will kill life that inhabits water-based ecosystems such as dolphins, different types of birds, and many species of fish. As each of these species within water-based ecosystems die that will ultimately have an effect on all human life. These water pollutions will eventually disrupt the natural food chain. If water pollution over takes natural water systems the plant life could die and have a major effect on the species that rely on them for food. Eventually these species will not have a reliable food source and die as well, resulting in a collapse in the food chain all the way to life of humans. This collapse could result in the death to humans. This is the ultimate danger in water pollution. Without the life within the water-based ecosystem, the disruption of the natural food chain all the way up to human life could mean death to all human life. Even though there are many policies set forth by the government to protect from water pollution there are individual preventative methods in which each person can carry out.