Water pollution negatively impacts aquatic organisms by disrupting their habitats, causing health problems, and even leading to death. Pollutants like chemicals, heavy metals, and excess nutrients can directly harm organisms, alter the food chain, and reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, which is essential for survival.
Here’s a more detailed look at the effects:
Direct Toxicity:
Pollutants like heavy metals and chemicals can be toxic to aquatic life, causing illness, deformities, and even death.
Oxygen Depletion:
Organic waste from sewage and other sources can increase the growth of bacteria, which consume oxygen, leading to “dead zones” where aquatic life cannot survive.
Disruption of Food Chains:
Pollution can accumulate in the tissues of organisms, and as they are consumed, the toxins move up the food chain, potentially harming larger predators like fish and mammals.
Altered Habitats:
Pollution can change the physical and chemical characteristics of water bodies, making them unsuitable for certain species and disrupting the natural balance of the ecosystem.
Increased Disease:
Polluted water can carry pathogens that can cause diseases in aquatic animals.
Eutrophication:
Excess nutrients, often from fertilizers, can cause algal blooms, which block sunlight, deplete oxygen, and harm aquatic life.