The Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem impacts the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. It’s wetlands protect communities from extreme weather such as erosion, flood waters and storm surges. And the trees that sprawl from the Bay shores and forests cool our communities.
How does the Chesapeake Bay benefit humans?
The Natural Benefits of The Chesapeake
These benefits include air and water filtering, agricultural and seafood production, enhancement of property values, and protection from floods and hurricanes.
What pollution affects the Chesapeake Bay How does it affect you?
There are three major contributors to the poor health of our streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay—nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus fuel unnaturally high levels of algae growth in the water, blocking sunlight from reaching underwater grasses that serve as food and habitat.
Why is the Chesapeake Bay at risk?
Habitat degradation is an urgent issue affecting the Chesapeake Bay today. The three major causes of habitat loss in the bay are increased pollution, development, and climate change (Habitat Degradation).
How is the Chesapeake Bay polluted?
Humans are directly responsible for the excess nutrients that enter and damage the Chesapeake. This nutrient pollution comes from fertilizing lawns, gardens, and farms. Nutrient pollution also comes from urban sources, including exhaust from automobiles, wastewater, septic systems, and stormwater runoff.
What are 3 human activities that were detrimental threats to the Chesapeake Bay?
Unfortunately, the Chesapeake Bay faces serious problems due to human activities, including polluted stormwater runoff, over-fertilization and pollution from animal wastes, deforestation, wetland destruction from agricultural, urban, and suburban development, and sea level rise caused by global climate change.
How important is the Chesapeake Bay?
The mixing of freshwater with saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean in the Chesapeake Bay creates the nation’s largest estuary, home to more than 3,700 species of plants and animals. Estuaries are highly productive environments because they provide a variety of habitats, which in turn support a great diversity of life.
How can water pollution affect humans?
More than 50 kinds of diseases are caused by poor drinking water quality, and 80% of diseases and 50% of child deaths are related to poor drinking water quality in the world. However, water pollution causes diarrhea, skin diseases, malnutrition, and even cancer and other diseases related to water pollution.
How dirty is the Chesapeake Bay?
According to data submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2016, 82 percent of the Chesapeake Bay’s tidal segments are partially or fully impaired by toxic contaminants.
How healthy is the Chesapeake Bay?
Researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) note that the Chesapeake Bay showed moderate health in 2020, improving from a C- in 2019 to a C, while the watershed encompassing the Bay remains in good health, earning a B-, the same score as last year.
Can you swim in the Chesapeake Bay?
Despite these health concerns, beaches along the tidal rivers and the Chesapeake Bay are often safe for swimming, fishing and boating.
Is Chesapeake Bay a dead zone?
Plant and animal life are often unable to survive in this environment, which is why the area is referred to as a “dead zone”. The main way in which nutrients can enter the Bay is through polluted runoff flowing from its tributaries around the watershed.
Is the Chesapeake Bay sinking?
Oceans rise at an average rate of six inches every 100 years. Sea level in the Chesapeake Bay rises at a faster rate than average because the land underneath the bay is sinking.
What is the biggest pollutant of the Chesapeake Bay?
Nitrogen Airborne
Nitrogen. Airborne nitrogen is one of the largest sources of pollution affecting the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Excess nitrogen can fuel the growth of algae blooms, which can block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses and create low-oxygen “dead zones” that suffocate marine life.
Why is the Chesapeake Bay so polluted?
Air and water pollution are intricately linked. Of particular concern to the Chesapeake region are airborne nitrogen and chemical contaminants such as mercury. These airborne pollutants come from large point sources like power plants and industrial facilities, vehicles, and agricultural sources.
Are sharks in Chesapeake Bay?
According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, there are at least 12 species of sharks found in the Bay. While some are quite abundant, others are very rare. The five most common sharks in the Bay include the sandbar shark, bull shark, sand tiger shark, smooth dogfish, and spiney dogfish.
How can we stop pollution in the Chesapeake Bay?
Consider carpooling, using public transportation, biking or walking whenever possible. Reduce Electricity – Coal-burning power plants are among the largest sources of nitrogen compounds in air pollution. Grab a Friend and Volunteer – Cleaning up the Bay begins in your hometown.
How can we save the Chesapeake Bay?
Five ways volunteers can help protect the Chesapeake Bay
- Pick up trash. Litter is often one of the most visible forms of pollution we encounter in our day-to-day lives.
- Plant a tree.
- Be a citizen scientist.
- Support wildlife.
What must be done by people in order to help protect the Chesapeake Bay?
Things You Can Do to Help Protect the Chesapeake Bay
- Plant Trees for the Bay.
- Dispose of marine wastes properly.
- Don’t dump anything down storm drains.
- Practice Careful Catch.
- Clean up litter on the shores of the Bay.
- Use BayScaping around your home.
- Buy a Chesapeake Bay License Plate.
- Grow an Oyster Garden.
How does the Chesapeake Bay affect the economy?
The Chesapeake Bay strengthens the area’s fishing, tourism, and real estate industries, generating economic and recreational benefits estimated at about $33 billion a year (“Cleaning Up the Chesapeake Bay”); however, these industries have suffered as a result of the degradation of the Bay area’s ecosystems and of the
What is the Chesapeake Bay known for?
The Chesapeake Bay has the largest land-to-water ratio (14:1) of any coastal water body in the world. More than 100,000 streams and rivers thread through the watershed and eventually flow into the Bay. Everyone within the Chesapeake Bay watershed is just minutes from one of the streams or rivers.