Thermal Pollution: A Global Problem Recently we've allowed our planet to begin overheating. With the introduction of CFC's and Carbon Dioxide into theatmosphere we've managed to raise the temperature of this vast resource. Even more ignorant is our failure to learn from ourmistakes. Now, through thermal pollution (the introducton of waste heat into water), we've began destroying the womb of alllife-the earth's vast water network. The Causes:There are three major causes of thermal pollution. the use of water as a cooling agent deforestation of shorelines soil erosionThe foremost cause being the use of water as a cooling agent in nuclear power plants and other industrial facilities. After thewater has absorbed the excess heat of nuclear rods or other machinery it is returned to the environment (usually a river or lake)at 9 to 20 degrees warmer a temperature. More stringent regulations are imposeed in the U.S. , but this doesn't help muchbecause most of the world's nuclear power plants are located in France and other European nations.Less obvious is how shoreline deforestation and soil erosion contribute to the problem. The soil erosion makes the watermuddy, which in turn increases the light absorbed. Thus, the water temperature is raised. Deforestation of shorelines furthercontributes to the problem in two ways. First, it increases soil erosion. Secondly, it increases the amount of light that strikes thewater. Both of which increase the water's temperature.By increasing the water's temperature we affect many other aspects of the ecosystem. Most importantly, the amount of oxygendissolved in the water is decreased. Remember that fact for later. Also, the rates of photosynthesis and plant growth areincreased. An increase in plant growth may seem to be a good thing at first. It isn't! More live plants means more dead plantslater on. The pile up of dead plants leads to an increase of bacteria, bacteria that consume oxygen along ...
