| |
| | UNC-CH marine scientist says hurricane could be catastrophic for Pamlico Sound |
 | | Because water entering the Pamlico Sound system, which also is the second largest estuary in the United States, remains for about a year, nutrients and pollutants washed into the system will be there long enough to affect an entire growth cycle of algae, Paerl said. |
 | | Pamlico Sound's lagoon-like enclosed shape, which has made it an ideal nursery for fish, also makes it extremely sensitive to pollution, because substances entering the system tend to stay for a long time. |
 | | Despite its toll, some good may eventually come from Floyd, including renewed awareness of the importance of forests and wetlands as pollutant filters and recognition of the environmental risks associated with intensive agricultural and urban development in coastal river floodplains, Paerl said. |
| www.eurekalert.org /pub_releases/1999-10/UoNC-Umss-081099.php (828 words) |
|