A recent scientific study has concluded that high levels of nitrogen
are negatively affecting sea grass off the New England
coast. These high levels of nitrogen are mostly coming from sewage, fertilizers,
and higher water temperatures. The nitrogen is killing the sea grass that is a
vital part of the oceanic ecosystem. The sea grass serves as a home for fish
and helps maintain a consistent water quality. A solution to controlling the
nitrogen level is limiting the amount of sewage that is dumped in that area.
Barriers to this solution would include building longer pipelines to pump
sewage further out to sea. This would take both money and resources. I believe
it would be worth both the money and resources to pump sewage further away from
this effected region. Water quality is extremely important not just for the environment,
but also for tourism. If sea grass helps keep the water clean it must be kept.
Without clean water the tourism industry in the area will be negatively affected.
Without sea grass the whole ecosystem will take a shape turn for the worse.
Good read! I agree that the sewage should be pumped out further to sea because it will definitely affect tourism. I have also heard of "dead zones" where there is no animal or plant life because of the lack of oxygen due to the large amount of nitrogen. I believe that we should commit to containing our sewage and fertilizer runoff so that we can restore our oceans to a near original state.
ReplyDeleteI actually did not know that sea grass cleaned the water which is pretty interesting to me. It is hard to believe that someone would dump sewage in the home of fish and other sea creature though. I agree that building longer pipe lines would be worth the time and money because in the long run, it would make sense to do that so the water stays cleaner. It's strange that people would put sewage in the sea grass if that's what cleans the water though, they were obviously not thinking when they did that.
ReplyDeleteI know that certain bacteria help get rid of nitrogen maybe some could be introduced here to help rid the area? just a thought. But this is very interesting, and I wonder if this is affecting the New England fishing industry.
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