POLLUTION AWARENESS AND ACTIVISM
impact of pollution on Animals
In addition to humans, plants and animals can be affected by pollution. Ecosystems rely on many different systems and parts in order to function, so hurting or polluting even one part of an ecosystem can have detrimental effects on the entire area. Animals absorb chemicals from pollution through their skin or through their food and water. The animals higher up on the food chain ingest more pollutants as they eat other animals that have consumed pollutants from their own food. Acid rain, a harmful type of precipitation contaminated by pollutants, affects sea life as well because it contains toxins that are absorbed into the ocean and harm marine animals.
Garbage patches and litter in the oceans can cut plants and harm animals if they eat or are trapped in the plastic. Fish ingest toxins that can be harmful to their livers in certain amounts. Other wildlife, including many different birds, consume and are impacted by these toxins as well.
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Pesticides that enter water sources through runoff can kill bacteria and animals, including soil bacteria, insects, and fish, which are all important to water ecosystems. Two ingredients, nitrogen and phosphorus, are used in fertilizers and promote plant growth. When fertilizers with these ingredients wash into water sources, algae is able to grow at an excessive rate, forming large blobs. These algal blooms can end up intercepting the sunlight needed for plants underwater to grow, as well as absorbing the oxygen animals need, leading everything to die.
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Algal blooms are becoming a widespread problem due to climate change. As the global average temperature rises, growing seasons lengthen and organisms like algae are able to grow more easily. In addition, an increasing number of storms and rainfalls are washing more runoff into water sources, bringing fertilizers that accelerate algae growth. An increased amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and in the water also speeds up the process of photosynthesis, leading algae to grow at excessive rates and create algal blooms.