Thermal and Sewage Discharges

The ecological impact of thermal and sewage discharge has become an important issue in marine environmental protection. The operation of coastal nuclear power plants and thermal power plants (CNATPPs) can cause regional sea surface temperature (SST) increases, which may considerably exacerbate coastal marine heatwaves. River runoff and sewage discharge have dramatic effects on marine coastal ecosystems and have been associated with the occurrence of eutrophication, algal blooms and coastal hypoxia. This chapter assesses two papers on impact of thermal (Lin et al. in Mar Pollut Bull 164, 2021a) and sewage (Bedri et al. in Mar Pollut Bull 71:117–128, 2013) discharge into coastal and estuarine environments including how these anthropogenic activities affect coastal processes, and the scope and extent of their impacts. It is concluded that, the thermal discharge from CNATPPs can exceed the global warming effect in the coastal seas. Therefore the impact on the coastal ecosystems by thermal discharge from CNATPPs under global warming should be an issue requiring urgent attentions by the coastal researchers and managers.