How tides are important for humans?

Tides are important for humans and are very important natural phenomena on earth. It occurs when the earth and moon exercise their gravitational pull on each other, causing the oceans to bulge out on both the closest and farthest sides of the moon.

How tides are important for humans.

Tides are important for humans and are very important natural phenomena on earth. It occurs when the earth and moon exercise their gravitational pull on each other, causing the oceans to bulge out on both the closest and farthest sides of the moon. This happening is called high tide and low tide happens at the low point of gravitational pull.

The tides are important for humans for their settlements on the seashore and tidal river banks. The tides may not be a resource but are the cause of many resources for humans. The tides are important for humans in the following vital events; such as;

• Preservation of intertidal zone ecosystem.
• Fishing & harvesting.
• Navigation and management of ports/jetties.
• Pollution control.
• Production of salt.
• Surfing.
• Power generation.

Preserving intertidal zone ecosystem:

The tides play a very important role in the preservation of intertidal zone ecosystems leading to the survival of rare species of flora and fauna. The intertidal zone ecosystems harbor many animals and vegetation.

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems of the globe coming within intertidal zone ecosystems. Different fish like butterfly fish and damselfish, crabs, lobsters, seahorses, sponges, turtles, coral shrimp, urchins, sea stars, sea snakes, rays, octopus, snails, mollusks, worms, etc. found in coral reef zone. It is the tidal condition that contributes to the size of coral reefs, in any situation.

Mangrove forests play a very crucial role in intertidal zone ecosystems. The distribution of mangrove species and growth depends on freshwater inflow, silt deposits, and most importantly tidal water inflows.

Directly or indirectly intertidal zone ecosystems and tides are important for humans’ existence and vibrant ecosystems. Mangroves escape humans from Sevier cyclones, devastating storms, and soil erosion. Not only mangroves but also coral reefs provide livelihood support to the locals. Now the preservation of the intertidal zone ecosystems, and tides are important for humans.

Fishing & harvesting:

It is the tide that keeps the mouth and bed of the rivers deep taking the sediments away, and enabling the rivers to keep more water. More water means more movement of fish, crabs, and other riverine species providing more diverse ecosystems. Tidal river ecosystems provide an income source to fisherman communities.

Moreover, seawater is important for humans for prawn and brackish water farming. Prawn cultivation is a profitable business that provides huge money to the said ecosystem. Further, during breeding seasons, the freshwater inflow to the oceans and seas attracts the marine fish species towards river beds and sea shore providing good catch for the fishermen. In India and Bangladesh in June/July at the beginning of the monsoon, huge quantities of marine fish like hilsa are caught near the river mouth and periphery Bay of Bengal.

Navigation and management of ports/jetties:

Due to depth issues, big ships are anchored in deepsea and wait for the high tides to enter the operating jetties of ports. It is the high tides that allow the fishing trawlers, and boats to enter the jetties or leave them for fishing. Moreover, the boats and trawlers which were at the dockyard, and river banks for repair and maintenance waited for the high tide for the voyage. From this point, tides are important for humans.

Pollution control:

Further tides are important for humans as they control the pollution of the rivers and shores. The rivers are polluted by human activities to a big extent. High tides wash away the riverbank polluting agents and polluting waters and drain them into the ocean, causing the river clean. Clean rivers mean, a clean river ecosystem for the growth of flora and fauna.

Production of salt:

Salt plays a very crucial and pivotal role in every individual. Without salt, meals may not be cooked or baked. For the production of salt, tides are important for humans. The salt is produced from seawater in the natural process and for this purpose, saline flat patches of land are prepared and filled with seawater coming through the rivers, & creeks and left to be dried by sun rays. After the salt fields are dried up the salt is left on the field for harvesting by raking. The salt fields are located in warm climates like India, Bangladesh, Srilanka, etc. After the salt is harvested it is processed for human consumption.

Surfing:

The tidal waves on the shorelines are conducive for surfing. Surfing is a water sport with amazing characters and needs talents. Young people prefer to exhibit their talent by riding the high tidal waves on surfboards. However, for newcomers, low tide is good for surfing. In surfing, like water sports tides are important for humans.

Power generation:

Power is important for the progress of civilization. For green energy, the generation of power from tidal waves is a way. Tidal power is renewable and green energy is the future of the generation to defeat global warming and greenhouse effects. During the 20th century, some progress has been made by advanced countries, such as France, South Korea, the UK, Scotland, Canada, etc.

The Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station, South Korea, has an electricity generation capacity of 254MW, whereas La Rance, France, the oldest Tidal Power Plant has a reported electricity generation capacity of 240MW. Special generators are used to convert tidal energy into electricity. It is said that tides are more predictable than solar and wind energy.

However, the technology is not so developed to produce low-cost green energy from tidal waves as yet. In spite of technological disadvantages, tides are important for humans for the generation of green energy from tidal waves.

Conclusion:

Tides are a natural phenomenon but humans have made it in their favor on many counts. On many occasions, the tides provide livelihood support for the existence of the human race on the planet. Starting from preserving the intertidal zone ecosystems to pollution control and fish farm to surfing on tidal waves, in many ways the tides are important for humans.