Student number:47487569

Unique number:791179

Gumede T. L

Assignment 2

1.

The dam and its reservoir. ➢ Loss of biodiversity certain trees used as timber or firewood.
➢ Submerged forest decompose and produce hydrogen sulphide which is
toxic to fish and corrodes hydroelectric turbines.
➢ Hydroelectric turbines can also be affected by the decomposition of
organic matter by bacteria, which may release mercury.
➢ Mercury can bioaccumulation in fish tissues.
➢ Blooms of cyanobacteria can occur – and lead to gastrointestinal and
allergic illnesses in human and animals.
➢ Cultural property may be lost by the creation of a reservoir – Lake Nasser
submerged ancient Egyptian monuments.
➢ Displacement of local inhabitants – the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze
River in China displaced 1, 3 million people.
➢ Resettlement of displaced inhabitants can lead to cultural shock and
conflict over land.
➢ The construction of big dams can also pull migrants to an area.
➢ Malaria cases may increase since mosquitoes transmitting malaria, breed
in standing water.
➢ Schistosomiasis77 (bilharzia) may also increase.
➢ Groundwater tables can heighten and lead to waterlogging and
salinization.
➢ Changes in the groundwater conditions can cause landslides.
➢ Earthquakes can be triggered by reservoirs.
➢ Local climate changes can take place (shift in peak rainfall season,
temperatures evaporation rates and fog)
➢ Greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide and methane) from dams due
to decaying vegetation can exceed the emissions which would have been
avoided by burning fossil fuels for the same amount of energy generated
by hydroelectricity from dams.
 1. Upstream areas ➢ Deforestation can results in accelerated sedimentation of the reservoir.
➢ This can lead to a loss of irrigated cropland.
➢ Wadi Alliqi:
* Before lake Nasser was built as a part of the Aswan high Dam, Wadi
Allaqi was a hyper arid wadi – dry and experiencing flash floods with
storms.
*Since 1970, the lowest part of the wadi is permanently inundated and
other parts are periodically submerged, depending on the water levels in
the Lake Nasser.
*As more water became available to the wadi, the area was transformed
from a dry zone to an area with significant potential for farming and
grazing.

2. Downstream areas ➢ Modification of discharge, voloticty, water quality and thermal

characteristics of a river.
➢ Trapping of sediments in dams leads to reduced sediment loads in rivers
downstream.
➢ Downstream river flow becomes highly erosive to the river bed and banks.
➢ Example: the lack of silt arriving at the Nile delta lead to coastal erosion,
salinization and a decline in the Mediterranean sardine catch.
➢ Intrusion of sea water into delta areas can lead to major ecological
impacts.
➢ Dam walls are barriers to the spawning and breeding conditions for many
species of fish.
➢ Reduction in water supply that feed wetland ecosystems.

POLITCAL OF IMPACTS OF BIG DAMS

Good dams Bad dams

Reservoir with small surface area(in a narrow gorge) Reservoir with large surface area

Reservoir that is deep and silts slowly Relatively shallow reservoir (short useful life)

Little loss of wildlife and natural habitat Considerable flooding of natural habitat and consequent
loss of wild life

Little or no flooding of forests Submerged forest that decay and create water quality
problems

River that is relatively small, with little aquatic Large river with abundant aquatic biodiversity
biodiversity
No problem with large floating aquatic plants Serious problem with large floating aquatic plants

Many unregulated downstream tributaries Few or no downstream tributaries

No tropical diseases (high elevation or middle to high Location in the lowland tropics or subtropics , conducive
latitudes) to the spread of vector-borne diseases (malaria)

2.

Ocean Pollution

By Vijayalaxmi Kinha Ecologist B.Sc agricultural…

Pollution of the earths largest budgets of waters oceans, can take several forms once contaminated by
these eight pollution sources. Many delicate ecosystems need a long time to recover.

Oil Pollution

Petroleum product used for fuel are mined from earth deep below the ocean surfaces. Oil can pollute
oceans in many ways.

➢ Oil seepage occurs on a smaller but continuous level, from oil leaks from cars and machines on
the roads which are washed by rain into drains according to National Geographic Occasionally.
Offshore drilling rigs experience accidental leaks, too
➢ Americans discard 180 million galions of used motor oil each year that pollutes water.
➢ The shipping industry causes 35% of oil pollution according to world ocean review.
➢ Leaching from factories, “municipal and industrial effluents.” discharge from oil rigs and burning
of volatile oil are responsible for 45% of oil in waters notes world ocean review. This includes
cooking oil and grease thrown down the sink drains in people’s homes.
➢ Ships carrying oil have also been known to cause devastating oil spills, but these are large scale
disasters. And therefore account for only 10% of the oil pollution according to world ocean
review.
Pollution from dumping

Like the rest of the pollution, most of the garbage that is found in the oceans comes from land.
According to the California coastal commission in fact, the National oceanic and atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) say 80% of the pollution in oceans comes from land. And only 20% occurs in the
oceans itself dumping is a large part of the problem.
 ➢ Plastics from 65 to 90 % of the garbage according to plastic pollution. There was an estimated
165 million tons of plastic in the ocean by 2017 reports. Business incident international. This is
because in the last 50 years, plastic has grown to 20 times the rate back then.

Pollution regulations.

➢ Waste material in the oceans are mainly regulated by the London Dumping Convention and the
Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR)
Convention.
➢ Regional agreements under UNEP has made progress in addressing pollution problems along
coast. An example of a regional agreement is MED POL which monitors pollution in the
Mediterranean Sea.

Aquaculture Spread Diseases and Parasites

Wasters from the aquaculture industry especially coastal ones can be particularly damaging to marine
fishes. The concentrated fish farms release uneaten food, and antibiotics pollution the seas Moreover,
there is danger that diseases and parasites from these fish farm can effect wild fish especially migrating
specious, according to Momentary Bay Aquarium.

Sunscreen and Swimmer Pollution

Sunscreen is a lesser known source of pollution but can have grave effects. The chemicals in sunscreen
worm by swimming and divers washes off onto the ocean water and coats plant on coral roots and
suffocate them

➢ TIME reported that 4000 to 6000 tons of screens lotions entered coral areas each year by 2013
➢ Oxybenzone and many other chemicals are the problem in sunscreen , and also effect algae, sea
urchins , fish , and mammals in ocean according to a 2015scientitic study
➢ They also found some areas to have more than ten times the permissible level of oxybenzone in
oceans
➢ Even organic sunscreen that contain plant based oils like neem ,eucalyptus , and lavender which
have insect repellent properties or bee wax that is contaminated by fungicide or insecticides can
be harmful to marine invertebrates .

Noise Pollution

Sound waves can travel long distances in oceans. These can come naturally from earth quakes report
National Geographic, However their intensity and frequency in recent decades is increasing. It is called
acoustic bleaching and is as much of a threat to marine animals as plastic and chemical pollution
according to a study published by Yale in 2016. There are two types of noise pollution

➢ Chronic sound at low frequencies by ships and oil ogs

➢ Acute and loud noise and sing from use of seismic air guns to locate fossil fuels in the seabed by
use of sound waves. The explosions are six times louder than ships some exploration efforts off
 the coast of trolled can be picked up by simple instruments in Nova Scotia in Canada its creates
a storm of noise in the oceans

The Yale study shows that the sound is so common that marine animals cannot hear each other
50% of the time .The consequences are
➢ Whales usually communicate through sound with each other for many miles.
Nutrient Pollution

As an earth Island News report notes , the old rule dilution is the solution to pollution has caused much
of the pollution not just for waterways, but also oceans Encyclopedia com explains this was the method
used to dispose of waste when populations were small it unfortunately continues even now, despite
many acts and rules.

Several times of everyday waste produced on land end up in the ocean. Since most rivers empty into
oceans, anything dumped into streams and rivers eventually reach ocean points out World Wide Fund
for Nature (WWF) in the marine Problems report.

This leads to an increase nutrients especially nitrogen and phosphorus that causes eutrophication and
lack of oxygen. The result is dead zones in oceans as well as inland water bodies explains Scientific
American. There are 400 dead zones in the world. This also called nutrient pollution according to the U S
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Effects report. It can also lead to coral bleaching and disease
elaborates Oregon State University.

Sewage

Sewage is one of the main sources of nutrient pollution

➢ Human wastewater from toilets causes problems with nutrients in the ocean
➢ Household articles like soaps and detergents in laundering as well preparation are often washed
directly into the ocean from coastal communities.
➢ Pet and pesticide waste from yards
➢ In some cases solid sludge from untreated sewage is also dumped into the oceans for example
80% of sewage in the mediterrancean Sea is untreated according WWF (Marine Problems).
➢ Untreated marine animals that can become seafood for humans.
Agricultural Runoff

NOAA reports that much of the pollution in the ocean is non-point. When solid is eroded it carries with it
many pollutions. It is in the form of agricultural runoff that contains fertilizers and pesticides. This finally
flows into streams and rivers which ultimately carry these toxic chemicals into the ocean. For example
runoff from Michwestern farms into the Mississippi River is responsible for the “Dead Zone “in the Guilt
of Mexico, which features very little marine life, as the EPA Effects report notes.

Economic impact of pollution

The economic impact of ocean pollution is far-reaching .since it affect the population of seafood, the
fishing and the crabbing industries, among other, are directly affected.

➢ The international tanker owner pollution federation limited acknowledges that oil spills upset
 local economics of coastal towns. Tourism, fishenes, manculture , shipyards, ports and harbors
can be affected by spills and cleanup operation in case of fishiness and tourism the disruption to
businesses can be long –term.
➢ Tourism also suffers in beach communicaties that are overcome by other pollutants in the
ocean. Back in 1988 some New Jersey beaches were shut down due to medical waste on the
beach. And this impact on tourism industry is estimated to be up to 3 billion. USD according to
an EPA estimate.
➢ The cost of cleaning pollution is enormous too. The west coast spends 520 million USD every
collecting trash and preventing it from ending in the oceans, according to an EPA estimate.
➢ Loss in ocean bio-diversity due to the combination of all from of pollution is one of the major
factors affecting fivelihoods of 200 million people worldwide and affects the fishing industry
worth 80 billion USD annually.

Question2 is about ocean pollution first you to explain ocean pollution (ocean pollution is caused by
industries human activities such as burning fossil fuels) ocean pollution is caused by waste that are
deposited to the test sea, for example you throw a plastic bag with dirty papers the rain will come and
crode these wastes downwards and they will be deposited in the sea after depositing itself. This load will
kill fishes because it will contain toxic chemicals, OK what about those people who will drink these water
obviously they will be these affected by ocean pollution will affect the weather condition. Kanjan Nah
during the main three gases, solid liquid and evaporation these three will be dirty the raising air will
affects people and equatic animals.