science

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Ecosystems
Western (2001) argued that the current human population can be said to have grown fivefold. Aspects such as soil fertility, and water quality have been degraded severely. The biotic system has also been dissected, depleted and it has also been endangered by increasing human demands. Further, it can be argued that human activities are a significant contributor to global change overriding natural changes to the ecosystems that can be attributed to climate variations. I have chosen to focus on Germany since I have visited their capital city on numerous occassions. This has allowed me a chance to look at the effect of human activities on the ecosystem.
Human activity has significant influence on the natural ecosystems and this is by way of modifying the ecosystems from original form. Aquatic pollution has been defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is defined as the introduction by man, either directly or indirectly, of substances or various forms of energy into the marine environment. This includes estuaries, which results in significant deleterious effects. This includes serious harm to living resources and marine life, hindrance to aquatic activities, and hazards to human health. This also results in impairment of quality for use of the sea water and reduction of amenities. Such human activities have had significant effect on the ecosystem in Germany.
Pollutants are derived from most human settlements, resource use as well as interventions such as infrastructure development.

According to Western (2001), the contaminants include persistent organic pollutants, nutrients, oils, heavy metals, pathogens, sediments, litters, and debris. Fertilizers, pesticides, and agrochemicals enrich the water with ammonia which is a major contributor to the acidification of the environment. Sewage effluent contains municipal wastes, industrial waste, animal remains as well as slaughterhouse wastes. It may also contain water and wastes from domestic baths, kitchen wastes utensils and washing machines. The bacterial decay of sewage starves aquatic life of oxygen and also leads to the breakdown of proteins releasing hydrogen sulphide and ammonia both of which are potentially toxic to marine life. Materials suspended in sewage may also blanket seabed preventing respiration and dumping of sewage sludge into the sea is a cause of ecological damage.
Works Cited
Western, David. "Human-Modified Ecosystems and Future Evolution". PNAS, vol 98, no. 10, 2001, Accessed 17 Nov 2018.