Disaster is Blooming
By Owen Hoff
The Basis of Nutrient Pollution
Too much of the natural nutrients in water like nitrogen and phosphorus causes algae to grow much faster than it's supposed to, creating algal blooms that harm water quality, food resources and habitats, and well as oxygen levels. Heavier rainfalls in the spring in farms and other places that use ground nutrients can run the excess nutrients into rivers and streams, confirmed by Bob Broz, a specialist from the University of Missouri.
Agticulture
The extra fertilizer that is applied to crops and fields by farmers can be washed away by precipitation easily, and the excess minerals can run into rivers and streams, giving them too many minerals. We can help limit this form of runoff by limiting the amount of fertilizer we use in fields.
Wastewater
The sewer and septic systems that we use nearly every day create large quantities of waste, which sometimes do not properly remove enough nitrogen and phosphorus from the system before releasing it into the environment. We can help limit this form of pollution by creating better water treatment systems, and being an advocate for clean water in our community.
Your Home
Fertilizers, yard and pet waste, and certain soaps and detergents contain nitrogen and phosphorus, and can contribute to nutrient pollution if not properly used or disposed of. Also, the commonly smooth surfaces of driveways can increase the amount of runoff. We all can help limit this kind of runoff by working as a community to clean our neighborhoods.
How it Effects Us
Nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms cause major environmental damage as well as serious health problems and diseases in people and animals, like stomach flu or rashes for example. Nutrient pollution and algal blooms also take a toll on the economy, hurting industries and sectors that depend on clean water. Federal, state and local governments spend billions of dollars per year to combat nutrient pollution or prevent its effects. It takes a large toll on our bodies of water, like the Gulf of Mexico. According to an ongoing anaylsis by the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, an area of oceanic algal blooms increased by one-third between 1995 and 2007. The zone that forms in the Gulf of Mexico each summer varies in size from year to year but averages approximately 5,500 square miles, or roughly the size of the state of Connecticut.