My research project focuses on the impact of the different types of water pollution on the environment and how they affect a variety of different things from aquatic organisms and ecosystems to the economy. I hypothesize that water pollution impacts the environment by releasing toxins, pathogens, and bacteria that can destroy entire aquatic ecosystems, which in turn affects the seafood industry that people count on for jobs, as well endanger numerous amounts of aquatic species to the point of near extinction. I think this results in an ecosystem imbalance and trophic level changes. Throughout this study I found that different types of water pollution can affect the environment unique ways. For example, eutrophication from algae buildup depletes oxygen and suffocates fish and other aquatic organisms, while Industrial waste can release toxins such as mercury that affect the reproductive ability of the organisms and cause health problems for the people who eat these organisms. Furthermore, pesticide runoff like DDT from farms and landfills can also affect the endocrine system and reproducibility of the organisms in the affected body of water. This makes the ecosystem smaller and less diverse. Studies show that there are many different diseases that result from water pollution. The economic impacts of water pollution are extraordinary because it is very expensive to pinpoint the source of water pollution and clean it up. Additionally, the seafood industry accounts for a huge part of the economy. This means that if aquatic organisms are dying and not reproducing at an adequate rate, then people lose jobs and restaurants go out of business, which slows down the economic activity of the area.

~BB