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=WELCOME TO THE WATER QUALITY DEGRADATION FACTBOOK:= =**T****HE DE****FINITIVE** **GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING WATER POLLUTION**= =The Degradation of Our Planet's Groundwater= Human activities on all spatial scales affect both water quality and quantity. Examples of these activities include runoff from agricultural industry, runoff from urban areas after severe weather, and discharge of toxic chemicals and other pollutants into the environment. Alteration of the landscape and associated vegetation has not only changed the water balance, but typically has altered processes that control water quality. Effects of human activities on a small scale are relevant to an entire drainage basin. Furthermore, local, regional, and global differences in climate and water flow are considerable, causing varying effects of human activities on land and water quality and quantity, depending on location within a watershed, geology, biology, physio-graphic characteristics, and climate. These natural characteristics also greatly control human activities, which will, in turn, modify (or affect) the natural composition of water. One of the most important issues for effective resource management is recognition of cyclical and cascading effects of human activities on the water quality and quantity along hydrologic pathways.

We have created this website in order to inform others on the huge problems associated with water pollution. In this informational website we will explore groundwater pollution and its effect on us. Thanks for visiting!

//Graphic Pictures depicting the horrible effects of water pollution.// =**Why should we care?**= The first time that we really started to notice water pollution and degradation occurred in 1980 following the Exon Valdez spill, a large oil spill of the coast of Alaska. (This does not imply that water pollution had not been going on beforehand) Now, more than 14 BILLION pounds of sewage and other waste material are dumped into our groundwater, rivers, and oceans. Additionally, just in America, one of the most developed countries in the world, we have seen rapid growth in the number of people in coastal areas. From 1980 to 2003 the population increased by 28 percent, and by 2008 it was around 55 percent. That means as coastal populations rapidly increase, then the number of people impacted by water pollution will also continue to grow. Additionally, polluted fish and other marine life ingested by humans are very toxic, and toxic water ingested by humans are very deadly. Remember, water is a limited resource.