36: Pollution and the Great Lakes Flashcards
What is pollution?
any physical, biological, or chemical change in water quality that adversely affects living organisms or makes water unsuitable for desired uses
What are point sources of pollution?
discharge pollutants at a specific location
- easy to identify, monitor and regulate
What are nonpoint sources of pollution?
scattered and diffuse
- cannot be easily traced to any single site
- hard to regulate and monitor
- usually, runoff from agriculture or from cities
What are the great lakes?
Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
What are the states that border the great lakes?
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York
What are the 2 Canadian provinces that border the great lakes?
Ontario and Quebec
Where are the great lakes?
in boundary between Canada and United States
How much of the Earth’s surface freshwater do the great lakes hold?
20% of Earth’s surface freshwater
How much area do the great lakes cover?
cover 95,000 square miles
What surrounds the great lakes?
surrounded by very industrialized areas that produce a lot of garbage that end up in the lakes
How many people rely on the great lakes?
more than 40 million people in the US and Canada rely on the Great Lakes
What is the description of lake erie?
very shallow and small; polluted the most
What is the description of lake superior?
very large and very deep; less pollution is going to be here
How were the great lakes in the 1960s?
many rivers that end up in the Great Lakes were so polluted that they were catching fire (Buffalo, Chicago, Cuyahoga, St Louis River in MN)
How were the great lakes in 1972?
the US and Canada signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
- ecosystem approach (look at land, air, and water)
What are toxic pollutants?
organic compounds that can cause illness or death
- pollutants that will make you ill or kill you, like poison
What are examples of toxic organic pollutants?
oil, gasoline, plastic, solvents, detergents, pesticides (DDT), insecticide (Mirex), dioxins, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs)
What are toxic organic pollutants known to be?
persistent chemicals
- cause bioaccumulation and biomagnification
What are persistent chemicals?
they are not going to be degraded over time by bacteria or weather
- some are banned (DDT, dioxins)
What are examples of toxic inorganic pollutants?
acids, salts, arsenic, toxic metals (mercury, lead)
What are solutions to toxic pollutants?
- regulate discharge of toxic substances from point sources
- clean up toxic substances from areas of concern
- fish advisories
- statewide safe eating guidelines
What are infectious agents?
organisms that are harmful to human health
What are examples of waterborne infectious agents?
- bacteria (childhood diarrhea, typhoid fever, cholera)
- virus (hepatitis)
- protozoa (amoebic dysentery, malaria, giardia)
- worms (schistosomiasis)
What is the source of waterborne infectious agents?
untreated human and animal waste from sewers, sceptic tanks, feedlots, etc.
What are fecal coliform bacteria?
E.coli and other bacteria normally present in human and animal intestines and feces
What can fecal coliform bacteria indicate?
good indicator of the presence of other infectious agents because their presence indicates that the water has been contaminated with fecal material
What are fecal coliform bacteria measured in?
measured in the number of bacteria per 100 milliliters of water (0 in drinking water, 200 to swim)
