Human Impact on Water
By Mrs. West
Positive Impacts
What type of human events cause positive impacts on the marine habitat?
Building Artificial Reefs
With natural reefs on the decline around the world, many people have begun to create artificial reefs to help combat this issue. Artificial reefs provide marine life with a new habitat to call home. Things that have been used include ships, cement blocks, cars, and a variety of other things.
Fishing Regulations
Fishing regulations create limits to the amount of fish you can catch/keep, the times of the year you can fish, and the areas you can fish in. This regulations help keep the natural population of fish at a more consistent level which keeps the ecosystem and food chain together.
Coastal Cleanups
Coastal cleanups have begun to help with the amount of pollution that can be found on beach coastlines. Throughout one year of these cleanups, millions of pounds of trash can be picked up from our ocean shores.
Negative Impacts
What type of human events cause negative impacts on the marine habitat?
Oil Spills
Oil spills from both land and sea pollute our oceans. They cause harm to the wildlife in a variety of different ways from messing with their ability to insulate themselves to ingesting the oil and posioning themselves.
Invasive Species
Invasive species are those organisms that are not native to an area, yet they were introduced by humans. These species can cause havoc to the ecosystem by disrupting the food web.
Chemicals on Lawn and Fields
Chemicals used to fertilize your lawn or pastures can go directly into our water supply and into the ocean. These chemical disrupt the natural balance in the different water sources. This can cause certain plants to die while others continue to grow and overpopulate an area.
Conclusion
Humans need to realize what kind of impact we have on our ocean systems. We need to limit the amount of trash that gets dropped in and around bodies of water, limit the amount of fertilizers we use on our lawns and fields, and continue to follow the laws and regulations that surround the marine habitat.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch