One of the confounding issues an environmental scientist faces is communicating

Question

One of the confounding issues an environmental scientist faces is communicating the concept of size and scope to their audience. If a small amount of pollution is mixed with clean water, the pollution is perceived by the general public as somehow becoming less toxic. In some cases, it is. A drop of ethanol in water will not cause as much damage to the human body as pure ethanol. However, the actual amount of pollution is still in that water. As you learned in the Module 6 Critical Thinking assignment, chemicals exist that can accumulate in an organism each time they come into contact with it. What if the example chemical ethanol could not be digested or eliminated from the human body? As a person drinks from a glass of water containing a drop of ethanol, that ethanol would stay in the body. Each subsequent drink of water would build up another drop of ethanol. Eventually, those drops of ethanol would add up, poisoning the person as much as if drinking a glass of pure ethanol. Think of Earth's hydrologic systems as a human body. Much of our excess stormwater and wastewater that fails to be processed by waste treatment facilities end up in our rivers, streams, and coastal regions. If contaminants within that wastewater do not decompose quickly, and are also easily absorbed by plants and animals who live in that water, the toxic potency of those contaminants will build up over time, possibly causing a plethora of health problems throughout the ocean food web. Watch the 2-hour video, FRONTLINE: Poisoned Waters (PBS). Post a minimum of a 250-word summary and personal review, and make any connections with the readings. As you review the video, consider how industrial and agricultural chemicals in the ocean food web parallel the path the DDTs take through the land food web as you learned about in Module 6's critical thinking activity. Think about what the sources of the pollution were, if more than one polluter involved, and what is meant by "legacy polluters". Review the essays of other students, post a minimum of two thoughtful comments of approximately a paragraph (a single sentence is not a comment), and reply to any and all comments posted about your own review.

Explanation / Answer

The movie begins with Puget area which is one of the greatest estury of America and is now in peril. In the movie a a host is talking to a local fisherman about the things that have been changed in the area in about 25 years. Now the catch has been reduced due to which many people have great losses in businesses. The factor which is responsible for all this is animal farming. Then we are shown the images of animal farms in which thousands of chickens were there with heaps of waste behind them. These animal wastes which are enriched in phosphorus and nitrogen they flow into the nearby rivers or streams and then into the bay which results of rapid growth of algal blooms near the bay. About 40% of the area near the bay are covered by these algae which results in death of aquatic life and these zones are known as dead zones.

After that he begins to tell about the clean water act and also he talked about the how the first earth day started in 1970. After that we move to the Potomac river in which many animals are being mutated and dying. We are shown the images in which hundreds of fish are suddenly dying. Also we are shown the startling images of frog with six legs. In the Potomac river the male fishes are being found of eggs instead of testicles. All this is happening because of endrocrine disrupters which is found in harmful chemicals of fertilisers, cleaners and lubricants etc.

The documentary then takes us to the Duawmish river which drains into the Puget sound. Here many whales especially younger whales are dying because of PCB which is banned now but was used extensively in the area about 40 years ago. After that we are told that the main factor responsible for water is the storm water. The towns and cities are directing the polluted water to our waterways which is full of impervious material used in construction along with chemicals, oils, garbage etc and thus pollute the waterways.

Legacy polluters are those chemicals which are remains persisted for a long period in the environment since they were first introduced. These chemicals were not considered originally harmful and usually they are banned now. These are generally produced by industries. Examples of legacy polluters are PCB,DDT which are banned now but were used extensively in the past.

The video makes us to compel to think about this topic seriously and starts cleaning the water and prevent pollution of water in the future. All the narration and the images are connected to each other. Also it shows how unpolluted water can impact us directly or indirectly. Also in the video some startling images and facts are shown. It also inspires us to think that if people 30 years back can take part in the protest in the earth day then why we cannot. The video overall is interesting to understand how the various ways in which water is being contaminated and how we are being affected by it.

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