Hello! So just to expand on the concept of changing temperatures caused by urbanisation, I would like to focus on thermal pollution. Thermal pollution is the sudden change in temperature of a natural water body (Causes, Effects and Solutions to Thermal Pollution – Conserve Energy Future, 2020).

Water has a high specific heat capacity and is able to store large amounts of heat before it changes temperature. Hence, this would mean that in water bodies such as lakes and rivers, the water temperature is usually stable and constant. Organisms living in these water bodies are adapted to the constant temperature. Hence, a rise in temperature could possibly have negative physiological effect on aquatic organisms (Shiomoto and Olson, 1978). This includes higher metabolism rates, meaning higher oxygen intake. However, with an increase in temperature, this causes the water to have a decreased amount of dissolved oxygen (Posudin, 2014). This may kill off aquatic organisms such as fish, which may decompose and further use up more oxygen. Leading to a vicious cycle.

There is also thermal pollution with the constant addition of cold water, AKA cold-water pollution (CWP). In Australia, it was evident that native fish species had slower growth rates and higher mortality rates (Parisi, Cramp, Gordos and Franklin, 2020). For example, a study conducted on the native freshwater fish called Silver Perch (Bidyanus bidyanus) showed that due to these negative physiological traits, this could cause a potential of problem where they may be out competed by invasive species with broader thermal breath such as the common carp (Parisi, Cramp, Gordos and Franklin, 2020).

A main source of thermal pollution comes from the coal-fired power plants and thermoelectric industries. Water is usually used in the production of electricity whereby it is heated to form steam that to generate a turbine to produce electricity. The water vapor is then condensed and released into environment. Sometimes, the water is used for the cooling of turbines as well. The water used usually comes from natural water bodies such as lakes, rivers, and oceans. The water of higher temperature is usually returned to the natural environment. Hence, this is also another form water pollution. (Rosen et al., 2015).

In the next blogpost, I will be talking about further thermal pollutiin and solutions to mitigate the effects of it.

Reference:

Conserve Energy Future. 2020. Causes, Effects And Solutions To Thermal Pollution – Conserve Energy Future. [online] Available at: <https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-thermal-pollution.php#:~:text=Thermal%20pollution%20is%20defined%20as,back%20with%20an%20altered%20temperature.> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

Parisi, M., Cramp, R., Gordos, M. and Franklin, C., 2020. Can the impacts of cold-water pollution on fish be mitigated by thermal plasticity?. Conservation Physiology, [online] 8(1). Available at: <https://academic.oup.com/conphys/article/8/1/coaa005/5739784> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

Posudin, Y., 2014. Thermal Pollution. Methods of Measuring Environmental Parameters, [online] pp.362-363. Available at: <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118914236.ch30> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

Rosen, M., Bulucea, C., Mastorakis, N., Bulucea, C., Jeles, A. and Brindusa, C., 2015. Evaluating the Thermal Pollution Caused by Wastewaters Discharged from a Chain of Coal-Fired Power Plants along a River. Sustainability, [online] 7(5), pp.5920-5943. Available at: <https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/5/5920/htm> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

Shiomoto, G. and Olson, B., 1978. Thermal Pollution Impact Upon Aquatic Life. Journal of Environmental Health, [online] 41(3), pp.132-139. Available at: <https://www.jstor.org/stable/44547838> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

Feature Image reference:

Wikipedia, 2020. Dominica Boiling Lake. [image] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_Lake#/media/File:Dominica_Boiling_Lake.jpg> [Accessed 6 October 2020].