Saturday, February 26, 2011

Lifeless Lake Areas And Also The Agricultural Nitrogen Runoff The Cause

By Michael F. Hartford


Dead zones are caused by agricultural runoff, how can we encourage farmers to thoroughly clean up their act?

Those of us who familiar with dead zones ask these questions:

Can we decrease the amount of oil based nitrogen fertilizers?

Will supporting natural farming assist the problem?

How can we stop expanding lifeless zones since they're increasing in size?

Dead zones are regions of oxygen-depleted bottom waters and they are spreading at an alarming rate in coastal waters, killing off huge variety of marine life.

Although some dead zones happen naturally, many are augmented by fertilizer fertilizer runoff, fossil fuels, and rain. The fertilizer, which is abundant in nitrogen compounds, is washed away from farms into rivers and ends up in the ocean. Burning non-renewable fuels produces airborne nitrogen oxides, which the rain sends to the ocean.

The nitrogen compounds feed massive algae blooms. When the algae dies, it sinks to the ocean floor where it's consumed by bacteria, which also consume o2 in the process. As the oxygen is depleted, creating a condition called hypoxia, marine life with the ability to swim away do so, and those that cannot like some fish, clams, crustaceans, and other bottom dwellers eventually die simply because their air supply has been cut off. At that point, microbes that live in oxygen-free environments start to thrive and emit hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas. Hydrogen sulfide Is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of spoiled eggs. Most lifeless zones are seasonal, as the algae thrives in warm ocean water. These occurrences are commonly referred to as red-tide in locations like Florida.

These Lifeless zones can bounce back with a distinct reduction in the quantity of fertilizer runoff which is allowed to reach our rivers, lakes, streams and oceans.

If the spigot of nutrients can be turned off, coastal systems can recover, Doing it may be accomplished by utilizing fertilizers much more efficiently, stopping human and animal sewage from entering rivers, and replanting vegetation along our riverbanks to help process excess nutrients."

Researchers are now making use of algae technologies to stop nitrogen from leaving the soil and entering our water ways. Algae technologies can be implemented to produce a barrier between our nitrogen runoff and our streams.

As we know algae thrive in nitrogen rich environments, by utilizing algae farms to uptake nitrogen run off we as humans receive 3 principal advantages:

1. Clean air 2. Cleaner potable water 3. Totally free energy

Algae are glutton eaters of carbon dioxide plus they release thoroughly clean oxygen

Algae can uptake all nitrogen compounds fecal or other to make thoroughly clean potable drinking water.

Algae could be used for its oil or as a complete fuel source to make energy this does include biofuels and dry algal powdered jet fuels.

Algae Biofuel is the best way to clean up our dead zones and provide our world with clean air, clean water and free power!




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