Artificial nutrients, a silent problem of our oceans

The brutal effects of eutrophication become visible in the form of massive blue-green algae—cyanobacteria—or sargassum seaweed blooms, depending on the region. The excess nutrients cause simple plant organisms, such as algae, to grow in abundance. Once the algae die, they are decomposed by bacteria, depleting the oxygen needed to support other marine life.

 As The Manatee Goes, So Do Aquatic Ecosystems

“The manatee is a sentinel species, the canary in the coal mine. The problems that affect them also affect dolphins, sea turtles, blue crabs and all the species that use inshore waters as estuaries. Manatees have evolved along with seagrass communities, and what is good for manatees turns out to be good for those communities as a whole and for boaters and fishermen.” You save the spotted owl, you save the forest.

 Blooming horrible

Nutrient pollution is a growing problem all along the Mississippi.

 Ever Heard of Nutrient Pollution?

Both nitrogen and phosphorus are critical for plant and animal growth and nourishment, but too much of a good thing can be bad.

 How your diet contributes to nutrient pollution and dead zones in lakes and bays

Algal blooms occur when water bodies become overloaded with nitrogen and phosphorus from farms, water treatment plants and other sources. Warm water and nutrients promote rapid growth of algae. Some strains can be toxic or even fatal to aquatic life and humans. Eventually algae settle to the bottom and decay. This process depletes dissolved oxygen in the water, creating “dead zones” where oxygen levels are low enough to kill fish.

 Sharp rise in Florida manatee deaths as algal blooms hasten food depletion

The agency says too much nutrient run-off, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus, is either killing the seagrass outright or forming blooms that block sunlight.

 We’ve changed a life-giving nutrient into a deadly pollutant. How can we change it back?

Coastal dead zones, global warming, excess algae blooms, acid rain, ocean acidification, smog, impaired drinking water quality, an expanding ozone hole, and biodiversity loss. Seemingly diverse problems, but a common thread connects them: human disruption of how a single chemical element, nitrogen, interacts with the environment.

 Why Your Hamburger Might Be Leading To Nitrogen Pollution

That's because farmers apply nitrogen fertilizer to crops to help them grow, but only about half of that nitrogen is taken up by plants. The rest can leak out into the environment. And because cows, pigs and poultry gobble up heaps of corn and soy feed, more nitrogen fertilizer is applied — and emitted — in the process of producing meat and dairy than other foods. In total, when the additional pollution from nitrogen-rich manure is accounted for, raising beef produces almost 16 times as much nitrogen pollution as growing the same amount of bean protein, scientists say.

A new way to curb nitrogen pollution: Regulate fertilizer producers, not just farmers

Reducing nitrogen pollution around the globe is an urgent environmental goal, but extremely challenging – in part because the main human source is agriculture.

A Renewable Solution For Polluted Waters: Biochar Explained

Agriculture and fish farming (aquaculture) practices are large consumers of the earth’s water resources and leading causes of water degradation. In the U.S., pollution derived from agriculture and aquaculture is one of the major sources of contamination to rivers and groundwater. Currently, there is no commercialized approach for removing the discharge of pollutants like nutrients and pathogens, and mitigating the eutrophication of water bodies.

Cuba’s clean rivers show the benefits of reducing nutrient pollution

In a recently published study, we show that Cuban rivers are cleaner than the mighty Mississippi. Why? Because Cuban farmers practice organic farming and conservation agriculture to reduce soil erosion and nutrient loss. In sum, Cuba is doing a better job than the U.S. at keeping farming from hurting its rivers, and its results offer useful lessons.

Farms, More Productive Than Ever, Are Poisoning Drinking Water in Rural America

One in seven Americans drink from private wells, which are being polluted by contaminants from manure and fertilizer.

Fertilizers, a Boon to Agriculture, Pose Growing Threat to U.S. Waterways

Farmers and agricultural authorities must take account of climate change and the prospect of increased rainfall in designing strategies to mitigate the effects of nutrient pollution. Otherwise, Ms. Michalak said, “They’re going to fail.”

How Mass-Produced Meat Turned Phosphorus Into Pollution

It's a quandary of food production: The same drive for efficiency that lowers the cost of eating also can damage our soil and water. Take the case of one simple, essential chemical element: phosphorus.

Let’s Save Florida’s Manatees

The vast majority of the once 80,000 acres of seagrass within the Indian River Lagoon have been lost to a continuing series of harmful algal blooms, which have themselves been caused by decades of human nutrient pollution from wastewater and runoff that continues unabated to this day.

Nutrient Pollution: How Excess Nitrogen and Phosphorus are Shaping Health Outcomes

Nutrient pollution is one of the United States’ most widespread issues, posing as a persistent threat to drinking water sources, human health, outdoor recreation, ecosystem health and more. It is also a problem that is increasingly difficult to solve.

Nutrients: Phosphorus, Nitrogen Sources, Impact on Water Quality

Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) are the primary nutrients that in excessive amounts pollute our lakes, streams, and wetlands.

Our meat habit is causing pollution issues—by way of our poops

Agricultural runoff isn't the only thing polluting waterways worldwide.

Phosphorus pollution reaching dangerous levels worldwide, new study finds

Phosphorus is a common component of mineral and manure fertilizers because it boosts crop yields. However, a large portion of phosphorus applied as fertilizer is not taken up by plants, and either builds up in the soil or washes into rivers, lakes and coastal seas, according to the study's authors.

Phosphorus: Humanity Is Flushing Away the Element

The clear consensus among phosphorus experts is that humans must start mending the phosphorus cycle to reduce the environmental damage caused by pollution and to waste less of an increasingly scarce resource.

Predictably scary: nutrient pollution

That’s the problem with nutrients – they’re invisible until they’re not. At some point, their impacts become impossible to ignore. Recognizing the connections now, can prevent scarier problems down the road.

The Gulf of Mexico’s 'Dead Zone' Is Now the Size of Connecticut

The 'dead zone' is caused by nutrient pollution and renders a swath of the Gulf uninhabitable for wildlife.

The Legacy of Nitrogen Pollution

Researchers track decades of nitrogen inputs and uptake across the United States, highlighting the need for policy to address the legacy effects of this essential nutrient and pollutant.

The nitrogen emergency: How to fix our forgotten environmental crisis

Nitrogen pollution poisons our water and clogs our air – and it exacerbates other environmental problems. But if we organise now, we can fight back before it’s too late.

The World’s Appetite Is Threatening the Mississippi River

The farmland that surrounds the Mississippi is more productive than ever, supplying the world with cheap crops and meat. There is a cost. Fertilizer and manure used on farms contain nitrogen and phosphorus. Flushed into waterways, they can taint drinking water and foster algae that chokes out marine life. Intense rains and flooding this spring exacerbated the problem.