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Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.
Watershed management is the study of the relevant characteristics of a watershed aimed at the sustainable distribution of its resources and the process of creating and implementing plans, programs and projects to sustain and enhance watershed functions that affect the plant, animal, and human communities within the watershed boundary. [1]
Water scarcity poses a threat to ecosystems and biodiversity, primarily through its impact on aquatic habitats, rivers, wetlands, and lakes. [3] Decreased water flows and the drying of water bodies disrupt the delicate balance of ecosystems, affecting a range of species including fish, amphibians, and water-dependent plants, experience habitat loss and fragmentation, affecting their ...
Such policies require direct monitoring of pollution at the individual polluter level. This is, by definition of pollution being non-point source, infeasible. The economics literature has many alternative policy remedies however. These alternative policies try to apply the polluter pays principle but basing the tax on what can be observed.
sectors – (economics) economic groupings used to generalise patterns of expenditure and use. sediment – (ecology) soil or other particles that settle to the bottom of water bodies. self-organisation – the process by which systems use energy to develop structure and organisation.
Although this is a point source, due to the distributional nature, long-range transport, and multiple sources of the pollution, it can be considered as nonpoint source in the depositional area. Atmospheric inputs that affect runoff quality may come from dry deposition between storm events and wet deposition during storm events.
Sources of water pollution are either point sources or non-point sources. [84] Point sources have one identifiable cause, such as a storm drain, a wastewater treatment plant, or an oil spill. Non-point sources are more diffuse. An example is agricultural runoff. [85] Pollution is the result of the cumulative effect over time.
Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients.It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters (lakes, rivers and coastal waters), in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algal growth. [1]