Polluted runoff is a major threat to the Pacific Northwest. Surface water runoff is the amount of precipitation on land that will ultimately reach streams and larger bodies of water.This runoff collects numerous pollutants along the way such as;
- oil
- grease
- antifreeze
- heavy metals
- pesticides
- fertilizers
One major cause of runoff is the abundant presence of concrete. Concrete disallows precipitation to be taken back up into the system by evaporation. The more an area urbanizes the more it damages the habitat around it.
Here is a video from Komo 4 News that personally shows the effects of surface water runoff occurring in the Puget Sound.
You have some good information and a good start here! I think this is a really interesting and important topic and I like the graphics you have to explain what it is, as well as what the major chemicals and pollutants carried by run off are. I think it would be good to add some more pages. One on the biological impacts of runoff with a few examples of organisms or ecosystems hurting because of it would be good. Another idea could be a page that goes more into detail on the human heath impacts of eating contaminated seafood possibly. And a page listing what people can do to reduce runoff would be good. As for the last page, things such as buffers, restoring shoreline vegetation, etc. could be talked about. As for a graphic, something highlighting the cause and effects of runoff could be nice, in a table or flowchart format. Also, don't forget to list your references.
ReplyDeleteTaylor,
ReplyDeleteI can tell you have some work to do. It's a good start so far though. Some ideas you may want to talk about are how toxicity increases up the food chain, and how chemicals they used to put in concrete for roads that we still use today is highly toxic and the runoff is pulling those toxins out the concrete and into the oceans/streams. I expect you are going to add more pages too. Overall it's a good start and an interesting topic. I look forward to the final product!
Corey
This is an excellent start to your website. The first thing I will recommend is more pictures! Pictures make everything more aesthetically pleasing which will draw the reader in. Also I would go in to more details on how each of the main pollutants affects the environment and steps we are/should be taking to prevent this. An idea for an original figure would be a graph of run off in the pacific northwest through the last century. That will give the reader a better understanding of how much industrialization has impacted run off. Overall this is a good start with some interesting information.
ReplyDeleteMaria
Your topic is so interesting! Maybe because I haven't thought of how bad the effects of surface water was and especially how concrete played a big role in it. Safe to say I learned a lot just from your introduction! I have to agree with Maria and say to add more pictures. The graphics in your introduction was very informative, but adding pictures on your other pages will allow the readers to visually see/imagine the effects of runoff and concrete. For example, you can add a picture/diagram displaying how concrete is affecting the absorption of pores from water, or even a simple picture comparing petroleum pollution vs cars emptying their tanks. Make your blog more visual! Other than that, I'd say you have a pretty good blog (topic) that interests the readers.
ReplyDeleteJanice