Env Ch 16a

• •the ocean is composed of vast riverlike flows
• -Driven by density differences, heating and cooling, gravity, and wind
• -Influence global climate and El Niño and La Niña
• -Transport heat, nutrients, pollution, and the larvae of many marine species

• the vertical flow of cold, deep water towards the surface
• -High primary productivity and lucrative fisheries
• -Also occurs where strong winds blow away from, or parallel to, coastlines

• trees with unique roots
• -Curve upwards for oxygen
• -Curve downwards for support

• Development for residential, commercial, and recreational uses
• Shrimp farming
• Half the world’s mangrove forests are gone
• Once destroyed, coastal areas no longer
• Slow runoff
• Filter pollutants
• Retain soil
• Protect communities against storm surges
• We are protecting only 1% of remaining mangroves

water bodies where rivers flow into the ocean

• Wide fluctuations in salinity
• Critical habitat for shorebirds and shellfish
• Transitional zone for anadromous (spawn in freshwater, mature in salt water) fishes
• Affected by development, pollution, habitat alteration, and overfishing

Moving people and products over vast distances

Accelerated global reach of cultures

Crude oil and natural gas

-Oil spills damage fisheries

• a potential energy source
• Ice-like solid methane embedded in water crystals
• A vast supply, but research needs to be done

• sand, gravel, sulfur, calcium carbonate, and silica
• copper, zinc, silver, and gold

• •Even into the mid-20th century, coastal U.S. cities dumped trash and untreated sewage along their shores
• •Oil, plastic, chemicals, excess nutrients make their way from land into oceans
• •Raw sewage and trash from cruise ships
• •Abandoned fishing gear from fishing boats

• Plastic items dumped into the sea harm or kill wildlife
• Plastic is non-biodegradable
• Drifts for decades
• Washes up on beaches
• Wildlife eat it or get entangled and die

nutrients increase populations of algae that produce powerful toxins

algal species produce reddish pigments that discolor water

• Illness and death to wildlife and humans
• Economic losses to fishing industries and beach tourism

established along the coastlines of developed countries

-Still allow fishing or other extractive activities

• areas where fishing is prohibited
• -Leave ecosystems intact, without human interference
• -Improve fisheries, because young fish will disperse into surrounding areas