Causes and Effects of Unclean water and Pollution
Global Warming
Rubbish and Faecal Dumping
Fuel Spillages
Deforestation
Chemical Dumping
Maritime Traffic
Causes: Disease
Causes: Infant mortality
Liquid and solid waste (bilge) is discharged by ships and other marine vehicles which causes sea pollution which constitutes a significant percentage of 21%.
Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio.
Oil destroys the insulating ability of fur-bearing mammals, such as sea otters, and the water repellency of a bird's feathers, thus exposing these creatures to harsh elements. Without the ability to repel water and insulate from the cold water, birds and mammals will die from hypothermia.
When humans are exposed to oil spills in our drinking water, it can cause irreparable harm such as respiratory damage, liver damage, decreased immunity, increased risk for cancer, reproductive damage, and higher levels of toxins.
When exposed to oil, adult fish may experience reduced growth, enlarged livers, changes in heart and respiration rates, fin erosion and reproduction impairment.
Fish eggs and larvae can be especially sensitive to lethal and sublethal impacts.
Water related sicknesses are responsible for 80% of all diseases and/or deaths in under-developed countries.
Untreated water sources are a major cause of infant mortality and morbidity. An estimated 1800 children under the age of five die everyday from disease linked to water, sanitation and hygiene in the world.
Deforestation decreases access to clean drinking water by 93%
https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/deforestation-diminishes-access-to-clean-water-study-finds/
A recent study was done in Malawi when the country lost 14% of its forest, which created a 9% decrease in rainfall.
Deforestation disrupts the water cycle. Less trees means less rainfall which leads to less clean water.
Also, the forest floor sponges up water, so without trees, there is an increase of runoff. However, the increased runoff accelerates soil erosion and increases the sediment load and turidity of water sources, thus decreasing the quality of the water.
The combined effects of air, land, and water pollution cause an estimated 7.4 million deaths around the world each year. In developing countries, more than 80% of untreated sewage contaminated creeks, rivers, lakes and coastal areas.
"Our waters are warmer than ever; there are less fish in our seas; one-third of the coral reefs are being bleached, and by 2050, there could be more plastic than fish floating in our oceans." https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2016/06/112581/causes-of-water-pollution
Since the industrial era begin, we have increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere so severely that its 100 parts per million higher than ever recorded.
Right now, the world's ocean absorbs 25% to 50% of carbon dioxide. But the ocean isn't able to absorb carbon dioxide as fast as we are polluting it, which has led to both global warming and ocean acidification.
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2016/06/112581/causes-of-water-pollution
According to the UN, more than 80% of the world's wastewater flows back into the environment without being treated or reused. In some least developed countries, the figure tops 95%
More than 8-% of the world's wastewater is dumped --largely untreated-- back into the environment, polluting rivers, lakes and oceans.
Unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other forms of violence combined.
Our drinkable water sources are finite. Less than 1% of the Earth's freshwater is accessible.
Even amongst Americans, potentially harmful contaminants -- from arsenic to copper to lead -- have been found in the tap of every single state in the nation.
The agricultural sector is the largest consumer of global freshwater resources, with farming and livestock production about 70% of the Earth's surface water supplies, but it's also one of the world's largest sources of contamination in rivers and streams. Every time it rains, fertilizers, pesticides and animal waste from farms and livestock operations wash nutrients and pathogens (such as bacteria and viruses) into our waterways. .
In the US, wastewater treatment facilities process about 34 billion gallons of wastewater per day. These facilities reduce the amount of pollutants such as pathogens, phosphorus, nitrogen, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals. However, many under-developed countries do not have such treatments, and therefore, is put immediately back into the environment.