{"id":113949,"date":"2021-05-14T16:17:55","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T20:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/?p=113949"},"modified":"2021-05-14T16:17:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T20:17:55","slug":"nutrient-pollution-is-choking-coastal-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/nutrient-pollution-is-choking-coastal-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"Nutrient Pollution is Choking Coastal Waters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By Victor Rivera-Diaz, Researcher and Writer for Save The Water<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u1d40\u1d39 | May 14, 2021<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coastal waters around the globe face a seemingly invisible threat\u2014nutrient pollution from groundwater discharge. The <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s43017-021-00152-0\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">problem substances<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> include nitrogen, a nutrient that promotes plant growth and is frequently used in agricultural activities. At elevated levels, nitrogen can lead to sizable <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/great-lakes-harmful-algal-blooms-five-ways-you-can-help\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">algal blooms<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, marine biodiversity loss, and low oxygen levels. It can also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1890\/1540-9295(2003)001[0240:HHEOAC]2.0.CO;2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">harm<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> human health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More concerning still, submarine or underwater sources that stem from groundwater make it <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2021\/03\/210331153736.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">difficult to keep track<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of nutrient pollution risks. For this reason, scientists aim to better understand the connection between aquifers, or underground rock layers which hold groundwater, and coastal water quality. In doing so, they hope to inform sound policies and mitigate further risks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">The Invisible Links Between Land and Coast<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a recent <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s43017-021-00152-0\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a team of researchers from thirteen global universities examined the links between groundwater and coastal water quality. They gathered data from over 200 locations around the world. Moreover, they placed special attention on groundwater discharges, or water flowing through aquifers. They found that nitrogen and phosphorus were entering coastal waters via groundwater sources, such as submarine aquifers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition, the research team noted that nutrient pollution levels in underground sources are difficult to monitor as compared to more accessible sources above ground. Therefore, contamination levels of the two substances are able to go undetected as they make their way into the ocean via hidden waterways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The research team notes that some nutrients from groundwater discharges can both benefit and harm coastal water quality and surrounding ecosystems:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Benefits:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> maintains the health of coral reefs, fisheries, as well as phytoplankton, and other primary producers\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Problems:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> causes low oxygen levels coupled with a decrease in pH, eutrophication or an overabundance of nutrients, and large algal blooms that can prove harmful to large aquatic organisms\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Groundwater is essentially invisible and difficult to investigate. That is why coastal water quality managers often overlook groundwater discharges to the oceans.&#8221; These were the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2021\/03\/210331153736.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">observations<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Isaac Santos, a professor of marine chemistry at the University of Gothenburg, who spearheaded the study.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">A Growing Concern for Coastal Water Quality<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sudden increase in groundwater nitrogen is a relatively recent occurrence. To understand this process, it is important to underscore that many of the world\u2019s lakes and rivers connect to underground aquifers. It is for this reason that land activities can directly, or indirectly, impact watershed health in the form of runoff. In this way, the excess nitrogen eventually ends up deep underground and\/or in coastal waters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most of the world\u2019s reactive nitrogen (promotes growth) was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linkinghub.elsevier.com\/retrieve\/pii\/S1568988308001078\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">naturally occurring<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It was made available by way of chemical reactions that involve bacteria and high heat from things such as lightning and volcanoes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet, with the rise of human agricultural activities, the levels of nitrogen in the environment have skyrocketed from pre-industrial conditions. Nutrient pollution has also increased as a result.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the current age, humans are creating reactive nitrogen in the following <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10533-004-0370-0\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">three ways<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Encouraging processes that make nitrogen in the air available for agricultural use, otherwise known as nitrogen fixation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Producing synthetic nitrogen for fertilizers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating reactive nitrogen through the burning of fossil fuels<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As it stands, synthetic nitrogen is by far the most <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linkinghub.elsevier.com\/retrieve\/pii\/S1568988308001078\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">widespread<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Invented in 1909 by German chemist Fritz Haber, synthetic nitrogen heavily contributed to the green (agricultural) revolution. It now makes up 80% of the nitrogen in the bodily proteins of the average human.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">Unintended Consequences Amid the Growth<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The unmoderated use of this growth-promoting substance is quite literally choking the oceans by causing widespread <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/es201212r\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hypoxia<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or lack of oxygen. It also harms marine life. In this changing landscape, human health researchers argue that while the benefits of nitrogen for food production have been immense, their overuse is likely a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1890\/1540-9295(2003)001[0240:HHEOAC]2.0.CO;2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">public health concern<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Specifically, excess levels in air and water can lead to respiratory and heart problems, as well as cancer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">The Current Situation for Nutrient Pollution:<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, nitrogen is influencing river systems around the world. Researchers have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linkinghub.elsevier.com\/retrieve\/pii\/S1568988308001078\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">assessed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the Labrador and Hudson Bay regions, where human influence is minimal and natural nitrogen processes that occur in the background are moderate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In contrast, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linkinghub.elsevier.com\/retrieve\/pii\/S1568988308001078\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">waterways in <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Republic of Korea contain 17 times more nitrogen than what would occur naturally.\u00a0 The North Sea contains 15 times more nitrogen. In the northeastern United States, from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine, levels are 10 times higher.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">The Gulf of Mexico <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Gulf of Mexico, researchers <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/360\/6387\/427\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">looked<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into nitrogen levels and their effects. In a surprise finding, the coastal region\u2019s hypoxic zone, or area with low levels of oxygen, was the largest ever recorded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To decrease eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico, nitrogen from land sources would need to be reduced by about 60%. Yet, even at 100% efficiency for agricultural nitrogen use, it would still take many years to reach target levels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition, the researchers pointed to the remaining nitrogen accumulated over the years. For the Mississippi River Basin, in particular, these levels of the substance will continue to affect coastal water quality in the region. Thus, the short-term use of nitrogen has long-term effects in the form of nutrient pollution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">Solutions:<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now in the early years of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oceandecade.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the issue of coastal water quality is garnering more critical attention. To reduce nutrient pollution, experts have proposed various solutions, some of which are currently underway:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>New technologies:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> researchers are developing new methods to accurately \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mit.edu\/2012\/using-new-technology-to-measure-nitrogen-in-coastal-surface-waters\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">measure nitrogen in coastal surface waters<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d and remove nitrogen in groundwater<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Governance:<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is providing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/nutrient-policy-data\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">resources and grants.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This includes regulatory and outreach programs, as well as partnerships and opportunities for research and development<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Agricultural practices:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> we need to see <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/360\/6387\/427\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">significant changes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in agricultural management practices over a long-term horizon<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 600;\">Do Your Part:<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you would like to learn more about nutrient pollution or get involved in a coastal community near you, check out the following links:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/nutrientpollution\/what-you-can-do\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nutrient Pollution: What You Can Do (USEPA)<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sarasotabay.org\/8-ways-to-reduce-personal-nutrient-pollution\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eight ways to reduce personal nutrient pollution<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In brief, safeguarding our oceans from nutrient pollution will require joint efforts by those of us on land. After all, our coastal waters much like the air we breathe, both need sufficient oxygen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Victor Rivera-Diaz, Researcher and Writer for Save The Water\u1d40\u1d39 | May 14, 2021 Coastal waters around&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12845,"featured_media":113950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[3472,3473,2152,569],"yst_prominent_words":[3119,770,1379,3203,790,811],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113949"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113949"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113955,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113949\/revisions\/113955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113949"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=113949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}