Water Privatization

Water privatization is when private corporation obtains the right to buy or operate a town’s public water services. Local governments often give up their water rights to these companies for the pay out or because their water systems are old and need replacing but the current funds are not there. From reading many articles over the years this often leads to higher rates for the citizens that live there and worse service than they had previously. By signing over the property of the city’s water you are losing all control you had previously. The companies that purchase the towns water often do not care about the service they receive because they only care about the stockholder’s opinion. Since the company does not care about the citizen’s opinions the public has lost any input in the new system. When a corporation owns a town’s water supply the public does not get to elect an official like they do in the public system. This destroys the open communication that exists in a public system, where anyone can go to the official’s office and talk to them about the issue. Corporations do not have the same objectives as that of public systems or the needs of the public. An example of this is where the corporation decides to choose to expand their services. They will not expand to areas of low income where they will encounter low bills and issues with collecting the money, whereas a public system would try to expand to every area. This brings up the issue of water as a human right, because corporations will not want to supply water to everyone especially those that do not pay their bills. Humans can live weeks without food but only days without water which leaves public health in jeopardy. The world is facing a water crisis, do want our fate in the hands of some company or do we want to be able to have control of our own services? The World Bank Group sees water privatization as the solution to this water crisis. Many international advocacy and civil society groups are pushing the World Bank to end their support of water privatization. These groups believe that the World Bank is using its position to get water companies rich instead of supporting affordable and clean public water services. Corporations want to make a profit so they will typically hike up the rates, “investor owned utilities typically charge 33% more for water and 63% more for sewer service than local government utilities.” The rates only continue to increase year after year that the company is in control. When a company purchases the water service they often let go one out of three existing workers in the water industry.

A different option to privatization is to construct public-public partnerships. These connections can improve public services and reduce costs while leaving the communities to retain control of their municipalities.

https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/water-privatization-facts-and-figures

This website is a very good source for various issues we are facing in the United States and around the world, including water privatization.

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/4/water-managementprivatizationworldbankgroupifc.html

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jan/30/water-privatisation-worldwide-failure-lagos-world-bank

Dead Zones in Oceans

A dead zone is an area that has a concentration of oxygen in the water that is so low that animals cannot live there because they suffocate when they stick around too long.

One of the largest dead zones is on the Gulf of Mexico. This dead zone fluctuates every spring because that is when runoff from farmers crops and fertilizers wash away into the Gulf. In 2014 the dead zone on the Gulf of Mexico reached the size of Connecticut. This is not only detrimental to the animals that live in that ecosystem, but it costs the United States $82 million dollars every year due to reduced tourism and fishing yield. No one wants to visit a place that smells like rotting fish. This is similar to what happened at Salton Sea. The Gulf of Mexico is an example of a time where human interference was the cause of this dead zone, but there are places where they occur naturally. There are over 200 dead zones in the United States. Because of our human pollution we are creating more dead zones faster than nature can fix them. Worldwide there are over 400 known dead zones, this means that in the United States we have half of all the dead zones in the world. This should be a sign of how badly we need to change in the United States. Sewage, not fertilizer, is a main issue in South America and Africa. This is better because we know how to create a proper sewage and wastewater treatment plan in a city so this problem can be fixed once the proper funds are moved towards fixing it. Another contributor to dead zones is airborne nitrogen pollution. The main sources of nitrogen pollution come from vehicles and power plants.

Climate change has aided to the creation of many dead zones across the globe. If the water continues to increase, it will only create more dead zones because the higher the temperature of the water the less dissolved oxygen it can hold. Scientists have found that by the end of the century areas with severe oxygen deficiency will see a 2-degree Celsius increase which will only worsen existing problems and potentially increase the perimeter of these dead zones. Many hypoxic zones are created or enhanced by humans. Another way that humans can create dead zones is through wastewater that is piped into rivers which eventually hit the oceans. These excess nutrients create algae blooms which use a lot of the dissolved oxygen in the water leaving nothing for the animals that live there causing them to die. When things die in the water they decompose, which uses more dissolved oxygen in the water and their bodies provide even more nutrients on which the algae can grow. This algae blooming issue is more common to areas with still water such as lakes, so it is harder for this to occur in oceans where the water moves around. If farmers used less fertilizer then this would not create as big of a problem.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html

http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/devil-deep-blue-sea

http://www.teachoceanscience.net/teaching_resources/education_modules/dead_zones/learn_about/

Aquaculture

Aquaculture is a form of farming that involves many different species of aquatic animals and plants. Some examples are shellfish, food fish, sport fish, bait fish, crustaceans, algae, fish eggs, and mollusks. Aquaculture is the most popular sources of protein worldwide and accounts for nearly 50 percent of the world’s food fish for human consumption. 85 percent of the world’s marine stocks are either fully exploited or overfished, driving accelerated growth in the farmed seafood industry. Aquaculture can be done in oceans, rivers, ponds, or indoors in big tanks, cages, or raceways. Some fish are made in aquaculture to replenish the natural population that is in the oceans already that have become very low due to overfishing. The plants that are grown in aquaculture are used for many different purposes, such as: pharmaceutical, food, and biotechnology. There are other types of aquaculture as well depending on where the species live naturally, marine or freshwater aquaculture. Marine aquaculture is in the ocean and can take place in cages, suspended in the water column, or on the bottom of the seafloor. This method produces species such as: seabass, cod, salmon, and yellowtail. Freshwater aquaculture takes place in streams, rivers, lakes and streams. This method commonly produces species such as: bass, trout, and tilapia.

Aquaculture causes a lot of pollution and it can sometimes runoff from farms and disturb the biodiversity of the ocean. This pollution comes from chemical and excess nutrients from feeding and maintaining the food being grown. It also comes from feces that all the fish produce on a daily basis, which can disturb the natural flora and fauna on the ocean floor. Some examples of chemicals used are: antibiotics, pesticides, and anti-foulants. These chemicals are commonly used for farming done on the land as well. Another form of “pollution” that comes from farms in bodies of water is in the form of disease and parasites. It is harder to control disease in the ocean than on land because it is in a fluid which makes it easier to transfer. These viruses can transfer between wild and farmed species. Another problem with aquaculture is the potential for them to escape and corrupt the wild population’s genetic diversity.  Aquaculture has to produce their own feed for the animals they raise which often includes fish or fish related ingredients which also creates a strain on overfishing.

Aquaculture in the U.S. is small compared to the other countries. The largest production of species are molluscan shellfish (67%), salmon (25%), and shrimp (10%). America is one of the largest consumers of aquaculture, importing 84 percent of our seafood. Of this 84 percent, half of this is produced by aquaculture. The top aquaculture producers in the world are: China, Japan, India, Chili, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Korea, and Philippines. There are many aquaculture organizations around the U.S, the National Shellfisheries Association, Striped Bass Growers Association, Texas Aquaculture Association, Aquaculture Certification Council, and many others. Many of these organizations are put there for environmental protection and regulations.

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/what_is_aquaculture.html

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/what_is_aquaculture.html

http://fishery.about.com/od/CommonAquacultureSpecies/a/Aquaculture-Top-10-Aquaculture-Countries.htm

Is water a human right?

Water is becoming a very controversial topic in the recent years especially as the amount we have available starts to lower over time. In 10 years Yemen is expected to have no water left in their whole country. This brings up the issue of if water should be a human right or a commodity. There are strong arguments for each side.

From looking at the World Health Organization’s website, WHO, I found a section on water sanitation and health which talks about if water should be a human right. Water being a human right means that they have access to water that is clean and in a sufficient amount to meet individual needs. It does not specify how much water you will get per person so this number could be different depending on who you ask and from what country they are from. However, in general it must meet a minimum, the quantity must suffice to meet basic human needs in terms of drinking, bathing, cleaning, cooking and sanitation.  If water is a human right it also means that water is affordable and accessible for everyone. This is no longer true when they have to walk miles to reach drinking water or that water is so expensive that they have to use money set for something else to pay for their water. Although industry and electricity are important for an adequate standard of living, these uses must not disturb the right to household water. Water that was used for industry and agriculture must not be contaminated after for drinking water.

There are many obstacles to achieving this such as: water scarcity, bad planning and management, overpricing of water, and groundwater contamination. In the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two 1966 International Covenants on, respectively, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), water is not mentioned explicitly, but it is regarded as an integral component of other recognized rights, such as the rights to life, to adequate standard of living, to health, to housing and to food. In considering state obligations human beings are responsible for themselves and their own well-being. The state must take legislative, administrative and other action progressively to achieve that every human being within its jurisdiction has access to adequate water, to the maximum of its available resources. An example of state obligation is to dig wells, cleaning up pollution, and setting up and maintaining pipelines. The state does not have to do this themselves but they have to make sure it is being done. If something is a human right it means that it is about governance and what they are required to do and what not to do to infringe or protect those rights.

The United Nations stated that water and sanitation should be a human right. With these two things taken care of poverty rates will go down significantly. The right to water is not directly mentioned in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights but it is implied. The water problem cannot be fixed by one universal policy, which is why there is not one in place. Water will face more problems in coming years due to population growth and ground water drilling.

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/humanrights/en/index1.html

http://www.unric.org/en/water/27360-making-water-a-human-right

http://www.righttowater.info/

Stream Erosion

A stream is a body of water that carries pebbles and particles down a channel. Streams are one of the main contributors to how the layout of the land changes over time. They do this by carving into the mountains over time by moving sediment and water through channels. This process can take thousands to millions of years. Streams can be in different phases depending on how old or young they are. In mountain areas streams carve them and create deep canyons. Streams go through phases of erosion and deposition of sediment. Stream erosion is something that takes up most of the streams energy from friction between the bed or sides and the water. A very young stream will be very windy and create very steep valleys by having an extremely fast velocity. For an older stream the landscape will be much flatter but will still have a sloping curve. The lack of mountains will decrease the velocity greatly. The stream will look like a braided channel form instead of steep valleys. The flood plains and sediment buildup cause this stream to change shape constantly. The last phase of a stream will be in an even flatter ground and will have slowed down the velocity even greater. The stream now meanders, or curves out in various places in a U shape.  

A stream is first created when multiple runoffs from precipitation run into each other to form one big stream. This runoff is carried across the land and picks up various sediments while doing so, it also gets this sediment from the breaking down of rocks and ground in its path. Streams carry this water from their source to the ocean or sea, which make them an important part of the water cycle and replenishing water. Most of the first cities were centered on streams for a constant source of water. This sediment can be carried far down a stream or it can be deposited and stored before reaching its final place. There are three types of load in a stream: solution, suspension, and bed load. Solution load, or dissolved load, is the portion of the load that is in the solution of the flowing water. It is all organic and inorganic material that is carried in solution.  Suspended load is the portion of the stream that is permanently suspended in flowing water. Suspended load includes many different silts and clays. They remain suspended by turbulent flow. The final load is bed load, which is when pebbles and sand move along the flow of the stream without being permanently suspended in the water. These materials are too heavy and move along the bottom of the stream by rolling or sliding, which erode the channel by abrasion. Another way they move is by saltation, a jumping movement, which happens when particles suspended in the stream fall to the bed and dislodge other particles which repeat the process. These three different types of loads help to erode the surrounding rock and stream bed which adds to more sediment.

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/10y.html

http://www.earthonlinemedia.com/ebooks/tpe_3e/fluvial_systems/geologic_work_of_streams.html

http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens1110/streams.htm

Wetlands

Wetlands serve as an important part of the water cycle. They can reduce impacts from storm damage and flooding, a vital source of recharge for groundwater, and help maintain quality in rivers. Wetlands help with water quality by filtering out pollutants as it traps sediments and absorbs excess nutrients that could pollute the water. They can also serve as an important freshwater source for people who rely on unpredictable sources.

Wetlands are important for biodiversity such as: fish, bird, and plant species. Wetlands are vital to many migratory bird species around the world. These birds keep the insect population down in the surrounding area which help farmers from getting their crops eaten.  

Wetlands are a very popular tourist spot which helps provide revenue for businesses nearby as well as aid the economy. People often visit wetlands to watch the animals, go fishing, boating, or camping nearby. People also use wetlands for a source of water to farmers in irrigation. Farmers don’t only use this water for crops, they also use them for livestock as well as domestic use.  

Wetlands also serve as a natural carbon sinks. A carbon sink is something that has a high ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, some examples are: forests or oceans. Wetlands that are placed along coastlines have the highest amount of carbon sequestration as well as other greenhouse gases. Australia and the Amazon are good examples of coastal wetlands.

RAMSAR is a “Convention on Wetlands and is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.” There are 169 parties that have signed the contract and over 2,000 Ramsar sites. There are 195 countries in the world and only 169 countries have signed, so 26 countries have not signed. It was named Ramsar after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971. The headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. The United Kingdom is the country with the highest amount of sites, but Bolivia is the county with the highest area of wetlands. The parties that have signed will meet every three years as the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP). Many other organizations have partnered with them to give research and information to aid them in saving the wetlands. So far Ramsar has protected over 490,000,000 acres of wetlands. A wetland is defined as “are areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.”

Ramsar has its own association in Ohio, the Ohio Wetland Association. In the United States there are only 37 designated wetlands of international importance. Ohio contains one of those 37 sites. It is located on the Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park on the campus of Ohio State’s university campus. This association conducts marsh monitoring programs, holds fundraisers, and increases awareness of the public. The association is made up of volunteers and is a

non-profit. Ohio used to have many wetlands but they have been converted to other land uses over time. The Clean Water Act has helped to alleviate the pressure on wetlands but there are still problems.

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/wetlands/WhyAreWetlandsImportant.htm

http://www.ohwetlands.org/ramsar-wetlands-of-international-importance.html

http://www.ramsar.org/

Urbanization Effect on Drinking Water

In the next forty years the urban areas around the world are expected to absorb all of the population growth that will also occur during that time. This will cause a serious strain on many of the utilities in the city, especially water. However this growth in population in urban areas in not only from reproduction but it is also from migration of people from other countries into new countries or even migration from rural areas. Many urban areas around the world are already in a water crises, and this growth in population will only exacerbate this problem. Most of this expected growth in urban areas is expected to occur in areas of the city that are less developed, which will only further issues with water use. These cities are not ready for the rapid growth that awaits them in just a few decades. If they do not become prepared it will create slums, blackouts, inadequate water supply and poor sanitation. The two most extreme problems are: water quality and sewage management.

As urbanization continues to grow it will create more storm runoff and erosion by having less vegetation to slow water as it moves across the land. This will also change the way water is moved around our system by having less water soak into the earth and less being restored in the local watersheds which then makes that city have to reach out further to find water for itself. Less vegetation creates the chance for more frequent flooding, and can change the physical characteristics of a stream. This is occurring in every almost every country, India, the United States, and most of Europe.

Megacities are a great example of areas where urbanization has had a negative effect on drinking water. A megacity is a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of ten million people. There are 35 megacities in existence around the world, with Tokyo being the largest. In the year 2050 about 70% of the world’s population will be in urban areas. Megacities create problems such as pollution of drinking water (poor water quality), catastrophic flooding, and inadequate access to water, poor living conditions, sewer systems overrun, and water stress.

To fix some of these problems the public needs to reduce unnecessary consumption and demand that products they use every day be made with less embedded water. Megacities and other areas with a large population need to become more sustainable with their resources. To do this they need to get everyone talking across a broad spectrum to find the best solution possible for each separate location. These solutions have to go past changing the water flow and must include getting the public more knowledgeable to reduce water use and make them more aware of law controls, reusing wastewater as well as storm water. If people will not use less water we must demand that they use less water by: offering citizens economic incentives for using less water, or having appropriate pricing of water.    

http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/asia/dhaka%E2%80%99s-challenge-megacity-struggles-water-sanitation-and-hygiene

http://www.wwf.org.uk/about_wwf/press_centre/?unewsid=5202

http://www.unwater.org/topics/water-and-urbanization/en/

Embedded Water

Embedded water is also known as virtual water. It is the amount of water used to produce food and non-food products. Most of the water we consume comes from embedded water in our foods, about 65%. A tomato has 13 litres of water embedded in it, where as a hamburger has 2400 litres. A hamburger uses this much water because a cow takes around 3 years to grow to the right size, but during this time the cow eats a lot of grains which requires 3060000 litres of water to grow. The cow also drinks over 34,000 litres of water in its life, and 7000 litres of water used for the slaughtering process. This totals to 3091000 litres of water to produce 200 kilos beef. Many of the products we use every day as well as industry uses are what have caused us to be in this water drought problem worldwide. That coffee habit you have of drinking 3 cups every day, well it takes 1100 drops of water to produce just one drop of coffee.

Do not forget this does not even include the water that we physically use every day in the shower or to wash our hands. This type of water that we use is described as domestic consumption, water that we use for cooking. The average for domestic consumption is around 137 litres of water. There are two types of this virtual water, the first is for industrial products that we consume every day, such as paper and clothes. This has an average use of 167 litres per day. The second is associated with the production of the food we consume. This amounts to an average of 3496 litres per day. This shows that 92% of the water we use is embedded water.

To get the public more in the know, companies in supermarkets and retailers could provide information about the amount of water embedded in goods. This could potentially get the public to demand that these places only get products that are produced with as little water as possible. Water stress is becoming a big problem that will affect us in our lifetime.

Another way you can help is by reducing the amount of meat you eat, a vegetarian consumes half the amount of water a meat-eating person uses. If you don’t want to become a vegetarian consider not eating meat for a day or cut out beef from your diet since it uses a lot of embedded water. Another method is to purchase meats that have been raised on grass. Although this may be expensive because the cheap meats are often fed on grain, or corn. Reduces the amount of waste we add to the environment can also waste less water overall. Goat and chicken are two meats with the lowest amount of water embedded in their production. Alcohol also requires quite a bit of water, so if you reduce the amount of drinks you have in a week you can save some water and live a healthier life.

The website below is a great way to find information that is put in a creative and interactive manner.  http://www.angelamorelli.com/water/

http://www.waterwise.org.uk/pages/embedded-water.html

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/embedded-water/

Lichen Study

 Data:

a.       Pictures

1.      

b.      Lichen Measurements:

Wired Quadrants	North	East	South	West
1	0	2	3	2
2	1	1	3	3
3	2	1	3	2
4	1	1	2	2

0 = no lichen were found in the quadrant.

1 = 1 to 2 (less than 1cm2) lichen colonies present.

2 = several small colonies located.

3 = lichens cover more than 10% of the quadrant.

I took these measurements by using a wired quadrant with 4 squares in a column and placing them 1 meter high on the tree. Then after placing the wire on the tree I took a picture, shown above, to use later to measure the amount of lichen that was present on the tree in each quadrant.

c.       GPS Numbers: 39 19’ 26.8” N 82 06’ 16.6” W

d.      Std Dev of tree data: 0.92

2.       Background

a.       Symbiosis is the mutually helpful relationship of two different biological species. Lichen has a symbiosis between blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), which live among the filaments of the fungus. The fungus benefits from the algae or cyanobacteria because they produce food by photosynthesis. The algae or cyanobacteria benefit by being protected from the environment by the filaments of the fungus, which also gather moisture and nutrients from the environment. Some lichens are parasitic to each other as well but we will not study this relationship for this study.

b.      Relationship of Lichen to air quality: Lichens do not possess any roots to their structure so they are affected very easily by even minimal pollutions in the air. Depending on the type of lichen and the type and concentration of pollutant it could have a positive or a negative effect on growth of the lichen.  This reaction to pollutants is called sensitivity. Areas with high SO2 and NO2 had low to non-existent levels of lichen present, and areas with low levels of SO2 and NO2 had high levels of lichen present. NO2 and SO2 are a great way to predict the level of air pollution in a specific area, if that number is high then the air pollution levels are very bad. This means that areas with lots of lichen growth have better air quality than those with little to no lichen growth. Some examples of the effects of high levels of pollution on lichen include reduced photosynthesis, bleaching and death of the photosynthetic partner, and discoloration and reduced growth of the lichen fungus. Many species are sensitive to even moderate levels of SO2 pollution and rapidly disappear from polluted habitats. Those that are specially sensitive or tolerant species are referred to as "indicator species" because their presence or absences can be a relatively accurate predictor of the air quality.Beatrix Potter produced several hundred paintings of mushrooms, boletes, jelly fungi and others. She also experimented with spore germination. She studied lichens under the microscope, drew their microscopic details and germinated the fungal spores of at least the lichen genus Cladonia.

c.       Candelaria concolor is a lichen species that are pollutant tolerant, or a species that generally respond positively to a wide range of pollutants. Areas near lots of mobile sources had an abundance of Candelaria concolor or other pollutant tolerant lichen species. Exposure to NOx and SOx will cause Candelaria concolor to bloom more rapidly.

d.      Physcia is known as a nitrophile. These species thrive in nutrient-enriched areas receiving N inputs from fertilizer application in agricultural areas or N emissions from power plants, automobile exhaust or industry. Physcia is affected by NOx positively and causes blooms of it to occur in areas with lots of NOx pollution.

3.       Method:

a.       Tree selection: I chose a tree that was near a road to see the potential effects of greater air pollution on lichen growth. I first looked at the leaves of the tree to make sure that they looked like maple leaves since I have one in my backyard. I also checked the leaves to make sure the veins were symmetrical. Then I looked for the branches to make sure that the branches were symmetrical, that the stems were equal to each other.

b.      You measure >1 meter above ground because the nutrients in the soil can contribute to the growth of the lichen and there can also be sprayed chemicals at the bottom of the tree. We measure higher up to make sure there are no outside contributors helping/inhibiting the lichen grow.

c.       My group was assigned to the West green section of campus, past Richland Ave. We all chose trees that were near each other to see more consistency in the data.

d.      I used my phone for a gps tracker to locate the tree I had picked. I also had a wire quadrant that another student made for us to use to measure the amount of lichen on each tree.

e.      This data is going to be used for future lichen studies performed at this university in years to come to see if the concentration of SO2 and NO2 changes over time and if the growth of lichen on the same trees will have changed over time or if it will yield similar results.  

Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Dioxide

Both NOx and SOx are regulated under the Clean Air Act by the EPA as criteria pollutants. The others are ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter.

Short-term exposure to SOx according to EPA's website can cause many different respiratory effects such as: increased asthma symptoms, or bronchoconstriction. The short term is classified as 5 minutes to 24 hours. Effects from exposure may increase greatly with exercise. Short term exposure correlates with increased hospital visits due to respiratory problems. SOx can also react with other components in the air which can travel deeper into the lungs and create or worsen emphysema and bronchitis and cause premature death. The main source of SOx is from fuel combustion, other minor sources are from industrial processes, fires and mobile sources.

Short term effects from NOx can cause airway inflammation in healthy people, and increased symptoms of people with asthma. Short term exposure is defined as 30 minutes to 24 hours. As with SOx NOx is also shown to cause increased hospital visits. The main source of NOx is from mobile, other minor sources are from fuel combustion, industrial processes, and biogenics. Areas near highways have 30-100% more NOx than areas away from roadways. Unfortunately over 15% of the population lives 300 feet or less away from a highway which increases their exposure to NOx. NOx can react with other particles in the air and penetrate deep into the lungs to create such as emphysema and bronchitis, and can aggravate existing heart disease, leading to increased hospital admissions and premature death.Ozone can also be created from the reaction of the combination of NOx, sunlight, and volatile compounds.

Lichens are commonly used as biomonitors of air quality. Lichen growth patterns change as pollution-sensitive species are replaced by pollution tolerant species. For this reason, those species known to be especially sensitive or tolerant can be used as bioindicators of atmospheric quality. Some examples of the effects of high levels of pollution on lichen include reduced photosynthesis, bleaching and death of the photosynthetic partner, and discoloration and reduced growth of the lichen fungus. Many species are sensitive to even moderate levels of SO2 pollution and rapidly disappear from polluted habitats. Especially sensitive or tolerant species are referred to as "indicator species" because their presence or absences can be a relatively accurate predictor of the air quality.

 Candelaria concolor is a lichen species that are pollutant tolerant, or a species that generally respond positively to a wide range of pollutants. Areas near lots of mobile sources had an abundance of Candelaria concolor or other pollutant tolerant lichen species. Exposure to NOx and SOx will cause Candelaria concolor to bloom more rapidly.

 Physcia millegrana is known as a nitrophile. These species thrive in nutrient-enriched areas receiving N inputs from fertilizer application in agricultural areas or N emissions from power plants, automobile exhaust or industry. Physcia milegrana is affected by NOx positively and causes blooms of it to occur in areas with lots of NOx pollution.

http://www.nps.gov/prwi/learn/nature/upload/Lawrey_2011_Lichen_Bioindicators_Final_Report-1.pdf
http://www3.epa.gov/airquality/sulfurdioxide/health.html
http://www3.epa.gov/airquality/nitrogenoxides/health.html

Air Pollution Control Programs

For this blog I used all of my information from the Ohio EPA’s State website at www.epa.state.oh.us . This blog discusses air pollution and quality programs in Ohio. State Implementation Plans, or SIP are plans that a state makes to make the quality of air better in their state. This can take many different forms, such as: plans for certain cities to improve their air quality to meet the NAAQS quality standards that are currently in place if they are not meeting them, or if a city has achieved this air quality standard then it makes plans for how they will continue to comply with these standards for the future or even to reduce them further.

There are 6 criteria pollutants under the NAAQS, there are: carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, ozone, and sulfur dioxide. The standard for carbon monoxide is 9 ppm for an eight hour time period and 35 ppm for a one hour time period. For lead it is 0.15 micrograms per cubic meters over three months. For nitrogen dioxide the standard is 0.053 ppm per year. For particulate matter of size PM10 the standard is 150 micrograms per cubic meters over 24 hours. For particulate matter of size PM2.5 the standard is 12 micrograms per cubic meters over a year. For ozone the standard is 0.075 ppm per eight hours. For sulfur dioxide the standard is 75 ppb for one hour.

Attainment means that the certain area has met the NAAQ’s for the certain pollutants specified. Nonattainment means that the certain area has not met the air quality standards that have been set by SIP and NAAQ. Ohio is in full attainment for the following pollutants: carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and certain levels of lead, particulate matter PM2.5, and ozone. Ohio is not in attainment for levels of certain pollutants. Being in an area of nonattainment affects businesses that want to locate or expand an air pollution source in that area. Once an area has three years of data showing that it meets the standard, the State must petition U.S. EPA to reclassify it as being in attainment.

I could not find specifically on how the rules are enforced from the EPA’s website but I found who is in charge of enforcing the rules and how new rules are created. I am assuming that if a company breaks their allowable permit for emissions or does not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), that they will have to pay a fee of some kind.  Companies in Ohio must report their emissions to make sure it is below the allowable limits that are specified in the permit. In Ohio the Division of Air Pollution Control (DAPC) develops and enforces rules in the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC). The agency is required to attain and maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) contained in the Clean Air Act, fulfill the requirements set forth by the Ohio General Assembly in Ohio Revised Code (ORC) Section 3704. During the Ohio rule-making process, rules pass through the following four phases: early stakeholder outreach; draft review; proposal to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR); and final adoption.