Thermal pollution results from the addition of heat to surface waters (rivers, lakes, and oceans) in an amount that creates adverse conditions for the survival of aquatic life (Goudie, 1994; Pluhowski, 1970). As water warms up, its saturation values of dissolved oxygen decrease, the metabolism of aquatic life increases and more oxygen is used by these organisms. Thus, for each 10°C temperature rise, the oxygen consumption of aquatic fauna nearly doubles. The rate of biochemical oxygen demand increases, resulting in oxygen depletion. Species of aquatic life change to less desirable forms (for example, trout are replaced with catfish, diatoms are replaced with blue-green algae, which can cause taste and odor problems), eutrophication or the aging of this surface water is speeded up, and adverse effects of compounds toxic to fish and other aquatic life generally increase with rising temperature. Basically, thermal pollution makes the water less suitable for domestic, recreational and...
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Bibliography
Goudie, A., 1994. The Human Impact on the Natural Environment (4th edn). Cambridge,Mass.: MIT Press, 454 pp. (pp. 227–31).
Langford, T. E.L., 1990. Ecological Effects of Thermal Discharges. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Pluhowski, E. J., 1970. Urbanization and its effects on the temperature of the streams on Long Island, New York. US Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper, 627D.
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© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Brenniman, G.R. (1999). Thermal pollution. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_325
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_325
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