Thermal pollution is a temperature change in natural water bodies caused by human influence. Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability disorder harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in Air pollution is the human introduction into the atmosphere of Chemicals Particulate matter, or Biological materials that cause harm or discomfort Acid rain is Rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually Acidic It has harmful effects on plants aquatic animals and infastructure The Air Quality Index ( AQI) is a standardized indicator of the Air Quality in a given location Atmospheric dispersion modeling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. The haloalkanes (also known as halogenoalkanes or alkyl halides) are a group of Chemical compounds consisting of Alkanes such as Methane Global dimming is the gradual reduction in the amount of global direct Irradiance at the Earth 's surface that was observed for several decades after the start of systematic Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon where dust smoke and other dry particles obscure the clarity of the sky Indoor Air Quality (IAQ deals with the content of interior air that could affect health and comfort of building occupants Ozone depletion describes two distinct but related observations a slow steady decline of about 4 percent per decade in the total amount of Ozone in Earth's Particulates, alternatively referred to as particulate matter (PM or fine particles, are tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas Smog is a kind of Air pollution; the word "smog" is a Portmanteau of Smoke and Fog. Water pollution is the contamination of Water bodies such as Lakes Rivers Oceans and Groundwater caused by human activities Eutrophication is an increase in chemical Nutrients -- typically compounds containing Nitrogen or Phosphorus -- in an Ecosystem, and may occur For other uses of the term "hypoxia" see Hypoxia. Hypoxia or oxygen depletion is a phenomenon that occurs in aquatic environments Marine pollution is the harmful effect caused by the entry into the ocean of chemicals particles, or Plastic debris. For the fictional character see Oil Slick (Transformers. An oil spill is the release of a Liquid Petroleum Hydrocarbon into Ship pollution is the pollution of air and Water by Shipping. Surface runoff is a term used to describe when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess Water, from Rain, Snowmelt, or other sources flows Distinguish from Wastwater (a lake in the Lake District in northwest England Waterborne diseases are caused by Pathogenic Microorganisms which are directly transmitted when contaminated Drinking water is consumed Water quality is the physical chemical and biological characteristics of Water in relationship to a set of standards Water stagnation occurs when Water stops flowing Stagnant water can be a major Environmental hazard. Soil contamination is caused by the presence of man-made chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment Bioremediation can be defined as any process that uses Microorganisms Fungi, green plants or their Enzymes to return the natural environment altered A herbicide is used to kill unwanted Plants Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired Crop relatively unharmed A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. Radioactive contamination is the uncontrolled distribution of radioactive material in a given environment Actinides in the environment refer to the sources environmental behaviour and effects of Actinides in the environment. Environmental Radioactivity is the study of radioactive materials in the Human environment. Fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large nucleus fissions. Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a Nuclear explosion, so named because it "falls out" of the atmosphere into which it is spread during the explosion Plutonium in the environment is an article which is part of the Actinides in the environment series Radiation poisoning, also called " radiation sickness " or a " creeping dose " is a form of damage to organ tissue due to excessive exposure to This is a subpage of Environmental radioactivity. Radium Radium in quack medicine See the story of Eben Byers for details of one very nasty case Uranium in the environment, this page is about the Science of Uranium in the environment and in animals (including humans Introduced species|Weed Invasive species is a phrase with several definitions Light pollution, also known as photopollution or luminous pollution, is excess or obtrusive Light created mainly by Humans Among other effects Noise pollution (or environmental noise) is displeasing human- or machine-created sound that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life Radio spectrum pollution is the straying of waves in the radio and Electromagnetic spectrums outside their allocations that cause problems for some activities Visual pollution is the term given to unattractive or unnatural (human-made visual elements of a vista a Landscape, or any other thing that a person might not want to For other similarly-named agreements see Montreal Convention (disambiguation. Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Concerning the Control of Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides or Their Transboundary Fluxes, opened for signature on The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the international Framework Convention on Climate Change with the objective of reducing Greenhouse gases in an effort The Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, often abbreviated as Air Pollution or CLRTAP, is intended to protect the human environment against Air This is a list of environmental organizations. See also Environmental organization Intergovernmental organizations International organizations The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs ( Defra) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for environmental protection The Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW is a worldwide system established by the World Meteorological Organization a United Nations agency to monitor trends in the Greenpeace, originally known as the Greenpeace Foundation, was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1972 The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS are standards established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency that apply for outdoor Air Environmental science is the study of interactions among physical chemical and biological components of the environment. See also Nature The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a terminology that is comprised of all living and Temperature is a physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold something that is hotter generally has the greater temperature The temperature change can be upwards or downwards. In the Northern Hemisphere, a common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant, especially in power plants. A thermal column (or thermal) is a column of rising Air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability disorder harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in A coolant is a fluid which flows through a device in order to prevent its overheating transferring the heat produced by the device to other devices that utilize or dissipate it A power station (also referred to as generating station, power plant or powerhouse) is an industrial facility for the generation of Water used as a coolant is returned to the natural environment at a higher temperature. Increases in water temperature can impact on aquatic organisms by (a) decreasing oxygen supply, (b) killing fish juveniles which are vulnerable to small fluctuations in temperature, and (c) affecting ecosystem composition. An aquatic ecosystem is an Ecosystem located in water bodies. Oxygen (from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys (acid literally "sharp" from the taste of acids and -γενής (-genēs (producer literally begetteris the An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( In the Southern Hemisphere, thermal pollution is commonly caused by the release of very cold water from the base of reservoirs, with severe affects on fish (particularly eggs and larvae), macroinvertebrates and river productivity.
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Ecological effects — warm water
Warm water typically decreases the level of dissolved oxygen in the water. The decrease in levels of dissolved oxygen can harm aquatic animals such as fish, amphibians and copepods. Oxygen saturation is a relative measure of the amount of Oxygen that is Dissolved or carried in a given medium Prehistoric amphibian Amphibians (class Amphibia such as Frogs Toads Salamanders Newts Gymnophiona, Sirens and Copepods are a group of small Crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat and they constitute the biggest source of protein in the oceans Thermal pollution may also increase the metabolic rate of aquatic animals, as enzyme activity, resulting in these organisms consuming more food in a shorter time than if their environment were not changed. Metabolism is the set of Chemical reactions that occur in living Organisms in order to maintain Life. Enzymes are Biomolecules that catalyze ( ie increase the rates of Chemical reactions Almost all enzymes are Proteins An increased metabolic rate may result in food source shortages, causing a sharp decrease in a population. Changes in the environment may also result in a migration of organisms to another, more suitable environment, and to in-migration of organisms that normally only live in warmer waters elsewhere. This leads to competition for fewer resources; the more adapted organisms moving in may have an advantage over organisms that are not used to the warmer temperature. As a result one has the problem of compromising food chains of the old and new environments. Food chains, also called food networks and/or trophic networks, describe the feeding relationships between species within an Ecosystem. Biodiversity can be decreased as a result. Biodiversity is the variation of Life forms within a given Ecosystem, Biome or for the entire Earth.
It is known that temperature changes of even one to two degrees Celsius can cause significant changes in organism metabolism and other adverse cellular biology effects. The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. See also List of basic cell biology topics. Cell biology (also called cellular biology or formerly cytology, from the Principal adverse changes can include rendering cell walls less permeable to necessary osmosis, coagulation of cell proteins, and alteration of enzyme metabolism. Osmosis is the Diffusion of a solvent (frequently water through a semi-permeable membrane, from a solution of low solute concentration (high water potential Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl Enzymes are Biomolecules that catalyze ( ie increase the rates of Chemical reactions Almost all enzymes are Proteins Metabolism is the set of Chemical reactions that occur in living Organisms in order to maintain Life. These cellular level effects can adversely affect mortality and reproduction. Death is the termination of the biological functions that define living Organisms It refers both to a specific Reproduction is the Biological process by which new individual Organisms are produced
Primary producers are affected by warm water because higher water temperature increases plant growth rates, resulting in a shorter lifespan and species overpopulation. See also Primary production (economics Primary production is the production of Organic compounds from atmospheric or aquatic Carbon dioxide, This can cause an algae bloom which reduces the oxygen levels in the water. An algal bloom is a rapid increase in the population of Algae in an aquatic system The higher plant density leads to an increased plant respiration rate because the reduced light intensity decreases photosynthesis. The respiration rate is dogs and frogs and logs and hogs Photosynthesis is a Metabolic pathway that converts Light Energy into Chemical energy. This is similar to the eutrophication that occurs when watercourses are polluted with leached agricultural inorganic fertilizers. Eutrophication is an increase in chemical Nutrients -- typically compounds containing Nitrogen or Phosphorus -- in an Ecosystem, and may occur
A large increase in temperature can lead to the denaturing of life-supporting enzymes by breaking down hydrogen- and disulphide bonds within the quaternary structure of the enzymes. A hydrogen bond results from a Dipole-dipole force between an Electronegative atom and a Hydrogen atom bonded to Nitrogen, Oxygen In Chemistry, a disulfide bond is a single Covalent bond derived from the coupling of Thiol groups Decreased enzyme activity in aquatic organisms can cause problems such as the inability to break down lipids, which leads to malnutrition. Lipids are broadly defined as any fat- Soluble ( lipophilic) naturally-occurring Molecule, such as fats oils waxes cholesterol sterols fat-soluble Malnutrition is a general term for a medical condition caused by an improper or insufficient diet.
In limited cases, warm water has little deleterious effect and may even lead to improved function of the receiving aquatic ecosystem. This phenomenon is seen especially in seasonal waters and is known as thermal enrichment. An extreme case is derived from the aggregational habits of the manatee, which often uses power plant discharge sites during winter. Manatees ( family Trichechidae, Genus Trichechus) are large fully aquatic Marine mammals sometimes known as sea Projections suggest that manatee populations would decline upon the removal of these discharges.
The added heat lowers the dissolved oxygen content and may cause serious problems for the plants and animals living there. In extreme cases, major fish kills can result. Warm water may also increase the metabolic rate of aquatic animals, as enzyme activity, meaning that these organisms will consume more food in a shorter time than if their environment was not changed.
Ecological effects — cold water
Releases of unnaturally cold water from reservoirs can dramatically change the fish and macro invertebrate fauna of rivers, and reduce river productivity. In Australia, where many rivers have warmer temperature regimes, native fish species have been eliminated, and macro invertebrate faunas have been drastically altered and impoverished.
Computer modeling of thermal pollution
In the 1970s there was considerable activity from scientists in quantifying effects of thermal pollution. Hydrologists, physicists, meteorologists, and computer scientists combined their skills in one of the first interdisciplinary pursuits of the modern environmental science era. Hydrology (from Greek Yδωρ hudōr, "water" and λόγος logos, "study" is the study of the movement distribution and quality of A physicist is a Scientist who studies or practices Physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning Meteorology (from Greek grc μετέωρος metéōros, "high in the sky" and grc -λογία -logia) is the Interdisciplinary A computer scientist is a person that has acquired knowledge of Computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application In Academia, Pedagogy, Physical sciences, Earth sciences, Human sciences and Social sciences Environmental science is the study of interactions among physical chemical and biological components of the environment. First came the application of gaussian function dispersal modeling that forecasts how a thermal plume is formed from a thermal point source and predicts the distribution of aquatic temperatures. In Mathematics, a Gaussian function (named after Carl Friedrich Gauss) is a function of the form f(x = a e^{- { (x-b^2 \over 2 In Hydrodynamics, a plume is a column of one fluid moving through another A point source of pollution is a single identifiable localized source of air, water, thermal, noise or light Pollution The ultimate model was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency introducing the statistical variations in meteorology to predict the resulting plume from a thermal outfall. An outfall is the discharge point of a waste stream into a body of water alternatively it may be the outlet of a River, drain or a Sewer where it discharges
References
- Michael Hogan, Leda C. Patmore and Harry Seidman, Statistical Prediction of Dynamic Thermal Equilibrium Temperatures using Standard Meteorological Data Bases, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development EPA-660/2-73-003, August, 1973
- E. Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data. In Thermodynamics, a thermodynamic system is said to be in thermodynamic equilibrium when it is in thermal equilibrium Mechanical equilibrium, and Temperature is a physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold something that is hotter generally has the greater temperature Meteorology (from Greek grc μετέωρος metéōros, "high in the sky" and grc -λογία -logia) is the Interdisciplinary L. Thackston and F. L. Parker, Effect of Geographical Location on Cooling Pond Requirements Vanderbilt University, for Water Quality Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Project no. Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena A cooling pond is a man-made body of Water primarily formed for the purpose of providing Cooling water for a nearby Power plant. Vanderbilt University is a private, Nonsectarian, Coeducational Research University in Nashville, Tennessee, 16130 FDQ, March 1971
- Edinger, J. E. ; Geyer, J. C (1965). "Heat Exchange in the Environment". . Edison Electric Institute, New York City, N. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI is the association of United States shareholder-owned Electric power companies Y.
- Edward A. Laws, Aquatic Pollution: An Introductory Text, John Wiley and Sons (2000) ISBN 0-471-34875-9
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