Saving Lake Michigan



Saving Lake Michigan

Introduction

Water is a key mineral on Earth that cannot be replaced by any other substance. Water is a habitat for many organisms, determine the climate and weather change, helps cleanse the atmosphere of harmful substances, dissolves, leaches rocks and minerals, transports them from one place to another, etc. The problem of preservation of water quality is currently very topical. Science knows more than 2.5 thousand of pollutants in natural waters, adversely affecting the health of the population, leading to the death of fish, waterfowl and other animals, as well as the death of vegetation waters. It is not only toxic chemical, oil pollution and excess of organic and mineral substances entering flush fertilizer from the fields are dangerous to aquatic ecosystems. An important aspect of pollution of the water basin of the Earth is thermal pollution which is the discharge of heated water from industrial plants and thermal power plants in rivers and lakes. Numerous organizations are trying hard to protect the oceans and lakes from pollution. Nowadays, a debate is going on regarding the expansion of BP Whiting Refinery on the Lake Michigan. Environmentalists are against the expansion as it will increase the water pollution while many believe that this expansion will benefit the economy and will increase the job opportunities. This paper analysis both perspective of the arguments.

Background

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and it is the only entirely within the United States, others are shared with Canada. It occupies an area of 57,750 km². 12 million people live along the coast of Lake Michigan (Callahan, 2007). Many small towns in northern Michigan focus on tourism that takes advantage of the beauty and recreational opportunities offered by Lake Michigan. The southern end of the lake is heavily industrialized. Lake Michigan is home to a wide variety of freshwater species. There are the fish of Arctic Canada, yellow perch, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, Bowfin, the carp, as well as some species of catfish.

In U.S, 95% of domestic sewage and 75% of industrial wastes are dumped in rivers, one third of human waste and millions of tons of animal waste spilled into the fields, or to fertilize, or simply to get rid of. In United States, 900,000 people suffer from gastric diseases due to pollution from contaminated water in this way (Hawthorne, 2012). These wastes also create dysentery, typhoid, cholera, gastroenteritis and hepatitis. Diarrhea caused by polluted water by human and animal waste is the leading cause of infant mortality in the world. Now it is increasingly clear that the fluoride added to drinking water is dangerous for your health, and well as its anti-caries is increasingly challenged. Fluoridation also causes an iodine deficiency can damage the thyroid and cause physical and mental disabilities. Drinking water contaminated with chlorinated solvents damages the liver and kidneys, causes some cancers and fertility problems. They are also very dangerous for pregnant women and can cause malformations of ...