| A | B |
|---|
| watershed | an area of land that drains into a specific body of water |
| point source pollution | pollution flowing from a single and identifiable source such as a discharge pipe from a factory or a leaking underground storage tank |
| non-point source pollution | pollution collected in rainwater falling over a larger watershed and flowing to a particular body of water |
| nutrients | nitrogen and phosphorus found in fertilizer, animal waste, or manure and phosphates found in detergents - promote plant and algae growth in a body of water |
| sediment | soil entering a body of water due to rain runoff and erosion - clear cutting trees or plowing a field for a construction site or a mine increases this type of pollution |
| toxins | industrial solvents, toxic and poisonous chemicals, or heavy metals such as arsenic, lead or mercury - source of pollution from factories, industry, and mining operations |
| pathogens | disease causing viruses and bacteria resulting from rain runoff flowing over animal waste and manure |
| urban runoff | increasing the % of impervious surfaces in a suburb or a city through the construction of houses, roads, buildings, sidewalks, and parking lots - contributes significantly to non-point source pollution by gasoline, oil, road salt and trash |
| rural (agricultural) runoff | removing forests and prairie grasslands to make agricultural and livestock farmland - contributes significantly to non-point source pollution by fertilizers, pesticides, nutrients, bacteria and soil erosion |
| thermal pollution | discharge of heated water into a lake or stream - an increase in temperature lowers the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration of the water - can result in a fish kill |
| dissolved oxygen (DO) | the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water - warmer water holds less oxygen/colder water holds more oxygen |
| pH | measures the degree to which water is acidic or basic - acidity can be added to water as a pollutant through industrial processes and mining operations (particularly gold mining) |
| clarity | a measure of the amount of particles such as sand, organic debris and decaying matter suspended in the water |
| turbidity | a measure of the degree of clarity of a body of water - erosion of sediment and soil as a pollutant has a great impact on this |
| macroinvertebrates | organisms such as worms, insect larvae and other small organisms lacking a backbone - used to measure the health of a lake or stream |
| groundwater | supply of fresh water that is found under the earth's surface in underground rock formations or soil - greatly affected by point source pollution from leaking underground storage tanks or by non-point source pollution that infiltrates into the ground |
| algal bloom | sudden growth of algae in a body of water caused by increased nutrients from agricultural fertilizer (nitrogen & phosphorus), animal waste or phosphate containing detergents |
| eutrophication | sudden drop in dissolved oxygen (DO) in a body of water resulting in a fish kill - usually caused by the decomposition of massive amounts of algae that died suddenly following a recent algal bloom |
| fish kill | sudden and massive death of a large quantity of fish in a body of water - usually caused by toxins or the eutrophication of the lake or river |
| increased wind speed = increased evaporation / decreased wind speed = decreased evaporation | effect of wind speed on evaporation |
| increase temperature = increased evaporation / decreased temperature = decreased evaporation | effect of temperature on evaporation |
| increased humidity = decreased evaporation / decreased humidity = increased evaporation - air is like a sponge: dryer (less humid air) is more likely to pick up and absorb water vapor by evaporation | effect of humidity on evaporation |
