Only Humans Would Find a Way to Pollute the Biosphere With an Element that is a Foundation of Life
We all love some “high quality H20”! (The waterboy )
The planet is 71 percent water, and water is the foundation of life. In fact the very first life form on this planet was a species of bacteria which appeared about 3.4 billion years ago in the ocean, and about billion years later a cyanobacteria species appeared, the first oxygen producers. They built the atmosphere as it is now, which all of life depends on. So it seems pretty crazy to hear about how everyone hates cyanobacteria just because its wildly toxic.
Today the earths atmosphere is about 78 percent nitrogen gas, 21 percent oxygen, and the remaining one percent is mostly argon, with some carbon dioxide and varying amounts of water vapor. Nitrogen which makes up most of our atmosphere is found in proteins, vitamins, DNA, and chlorophyll, it’s a critical nutrient for life. So it’s pretty crazy to hear about water being polluted by nitrogen.
Like all nutrients creating life, there is a balance that is required. Mother Nature created cycles to keep that balance, and this one is called a nutrient cycle. Unfortunately, humans have done well in disrupting those cycles. The nitrogen cycle is probably the most complex because of how many forms of nitrogen are involved, and therefore easily disputed. I provided a picture above.
The nitrogen cycle doesn’t really begin or end anywhere, but let’s say it starts in the atmosphere, it is rained down into our oceans and soil, but nitrogen in its gas form it cannot be used by plants. Bacteria transforms it into nitrates. Another way nitrogen is transformed is by decomposers, such as fungi and bacteria. They break down animal excretion and dead plant matter and return nitrogen back to the soil in the form of ammonia, which transform into nitrites which then gets turned back into nitrates by nitrifying bacteria. Got that?
We can’t leave out the impact of lightning on nitrogen. Lighting causes a chemical reaction which transforms nitrogen to nitrous oxide which falls down as rain and eventually becomes nitrate.
How the heck did humans disrupt this cycle, and furthermore what exactly is nitrogen pollution? How does it affect us?
It’s all about too much of a good thing. Overloading, began with the Industrial revolution, fossil fuels, fast food, fast cars, fast growth, more, more, more! And More more more, has us making about 150 million tons of nitrogen based fertilizers every year, which gets washed along with phosphorus (the other major plant nutrient) into our lakes rivers and oceans. Not only are we adding nitrogen to the soil and air by burning fossil fuels and using nitrogen chemical based fertilizers, we also have a huge global amount of livestock. Sixty percent of the planets ice-free land is used for livestock. One cow makes 130–150 pounds of poo a day and that’s a whole lot of poo, furthering the excess amount of nitrogen in the water and soil. Which brings us back to cyanobacteria, and to other forms of phytoplankton. They contribute between 50 to 85 percent of the oxygen in earth atmosphere, and boy do they love nutrients, and we are supplying them with plenty. The ultimate in water nutrient pollution is eutrophication. That’s when the aquatic ecosystem literally dies from too much of a good thing. Nutrients grow algae, and more algae, and more algae. The algae die and fall to the bottom. There the decomposers, or detrivores eat the remains, and detrivores are not like algae. They are oxygen consumers. Eventually, they consume it all in their feeding frenzy, and nothing else can live.
Dead zones have quadrupled since the 1950’s, but due to lack of monitoring the numbers may in fact be much higher. There are more than 400 monitored dead zones and another hundred at least have been reported. Not only do these algae blooms cause a threat to aquatic life, many of them are also toxic and harmful to human health. Rent Toxic Puzzle from Vudu to learn just how toxic these blooms can be. Some of the long term effects of being exposed are Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and nonalcoholic liver disease. One study conducted by the University of Miami showed detectable levels of BMAA, a toxin released by cynobacteria, in dead dolphins.
So there we have it, nitrogen pollution, destroying our high quality H20! If we want to save our waters, our ecosystems and leave a thriving planet for future generations we need to begin to change the way we live and consume! Say goodbye to monoculture and factory farming and introduce regenerative farming practices. Keep fossil fuels in the ground, and replace our chemically –enhanced green lawns with native plants and sustainable permaculture gardens!
References
Audesirk T, Audesirk G, Byers B, Biology life on earth with physiology . tenth edition . Glenview Il pearson education inc 2014
Bednark, A, Szklarek, S,Zalewski M, Nitrogen pollution removal from areas of intensive farming—comparison of various denitrification biotechnologies 10.1016/j.ecohyd.2014.01.005 — Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology
Gillis C, Researchers find blue-green algae toxin in dolphins that also have brain disease, Naples Daily New published 5:12 p.m. ET March 25, 2019
Edited by Andre Mele
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