\"Saving the bay\" was the title of an article that appeared in Daily Press, our
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Question
"Saving the bay" was the title of an article that appeared in Daily Press, our local paper, a couple of years ago. Another article titled "What's Killing the Chesapeake Bay?" appeared in the Washington Post also a few years ago. Both of these articles were referring to the many years of pollution of the Chesapeake Bay. Considering that the Chesapeake Bay watershed covers a wide geographical area (from New York to Virginia), provide a detailed discussion of the nature (source) of the Bay pollution problem. Include in your discussion "point source" and "non-point source" pollution.Explanation / Answer
At its healthiest in the early 1600s, the Chesapeake watershed was mainly comprised of forested buffers, wetlands, and resources lands (meadows and some farmland) that absorbed and filtered nutrients. Haphazard development has stripped the watershed of these buffers, and today pollution flows undiluted into waterways. As land use patterns change and the watershed's population grows, the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment entering the Bay's waters increases tremendously. Each year, roughly 300 million pounds of polluting nitrogen reaches the Chesapeake Bay—about six times the amount that reached the bay in the 1600s.
The largest source of pollution to the Bay comes from agricultural runoff, which contributes roughly 40 percent of the nitrogen and 50 percent of the phosphorus entering the Chesapeake Bay.Nitrogen and phosphorus have always been a part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, but have increased to excessive levels over the last few decades. Prior to substantial human activity in the region, most nitrogen and phosphorus was absorbed or retained by natural forest and wetland vegetation. However, the activities of over 13.6 million people in the watershed have overwhelmed the Chesapeake Bay with excess amounts of nutrients. Nitrogen and phosphorus come from a wide range of point and nonpoint sources, including sewage treatment plants, industrial facilities, agricultural fields, lawns, and the atmosphere. As forests and wetlands have been replaced by farms, cities, and suburbs to accommodate a growing population, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to the Chesapeake Bay has greatly increased.
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