The effects of environmental stresses such as rising sea surface temperatures, pollutants, and pathogens on cnidarians, especially corals, are a matter of serious concern.
The contribution to the sea and distribution of each pollutant in the region was calculated using the LCI and mGLCI models.
Microplastics are easily swallowed and prone to absorb chemical pollutants in the sea, like pesticides, research has shown.
The very features that make plastic a perfect material for bathtub toys also make it a superlative pollutant of the seas.
That, in turn, predicts at any given moment which regions of the bay will wash pollutants out to sea and which will confine them to the coast.
Of even greater concern was the environmental impact on the lake itself: big subdivisions, like Tahoe Keys, eroded the shoreline, and the sea of parking lots drained pollutants straight into the lake.
The scientists studying Monterey Bay found a Lagrangian coherent structure that acts as a moving ridge, separating a region of the bay that spreads pollutants out to sea and a region that recirculates them in the bay.
The dumping of pollutants into the sea also can affect the chemical makeup of the ocean, contrary to earlier assumptions that, for example, toxins could be safely disposed of there.
Coastal regions are significantly influenced by land-derived discharges emanating from estuaries, with estuarine plumes mediating the fluxes of natural terrestrial compounds and pollutant into shelf seas [1,2].
The third reason is that gray whales, like many other cetacean species, are already being affected by pollutants in the sea - the so-called "stinky whale" phenomenon - and are likely to be further compromised by climate change, as it alters the seasonal patterns of sea ice growth and retreat and the food supply.
