Echoes of Melting Giants: A Journey through Fragile Landscapes
In the heart of the Alps, where glaciers once stood proud, the scars of climate change are unmistakable. Journey through Val di Sole to Passo del Tonale, where history and nature intertwine. The remnants of the White War echo in a sensory museum within a cave, while the sight of retreating glaciers and makeshift tarps highlight humanity’s struggle against environmental degradation. This poignant narrative urges a reflection on our role in preserving these fragile landscapes for future generations.
US EPA overview on nitrogen pollution, EPA overview on acid rain
Nitrogen fertilizer impact on soil acidity
Nitrous oxide as a greenhouse gas
Information on red tides
Nitrogen pollution + algae blooms
Impacts of nitrogen pollution and the legacy of nitrogen pollution (highly detailed and highly recommended)
Notes:
Most of this post was focused on nitrogen pollution and its effects on aquatic ecosystems and the industries and humans that rely on them. However, nitrogen pollution can take many other forms, and it’s a rather large issue to tackle precisely because of its broad range of effects that range from air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions to soil pollution to water pollution.
In the U.S., most nitrogen pollution that affects aquatic ecosystems is from agriculture and the overuse of fertilizer, and more efficient methods of growing crops are needed to overcome this issue.
However, nitrogen pollution via the air is from burning fossil fuels, which boils down to transportation/driving vehicles, and manufacturing industries.
Edit: someone noted in the comments that nitrogen makes up 78% of our atmosphere and that the pollution is coming from nitrogen compounds like ammonia, nitrates, and nitrous oxides. That is correct and a good clarification to make.
Earth Day post: 3/?
Other infographics: outdoor cats, ocean acidification, orgs to donate to
Reblogs are greatly appreciated!!! HAPPY EARTH DAY!
Transcript for images below:
Nitrogen pollution is one of the lesser known yet equally problematic forms of pollution.
In nature, nitrogen is an essential nutrient for life. Plants take in nitrogen from the soil. It is then passed up the food chain and distributed to all organisms.
However, when humans let too much nitrogen escape into the environment, it can have disastrous consequences.
Over applying fertilizer, which is very nitrogen-rich, or improperly disposing of manure (feces and urine from either farm animals or pets) deposits excess nitrogen into the environment.
The excess nitrogen eventually flows into streams, rivers, lakes, and even the ocean via rain or runoff. There it promotes the rapid growth of algae and algal blooms.
However, the algae die quickly too, and as the dead algae decay, they use up all the oxygen in the water. Other aquatic life gets choked out, and a dead zone is created.
Two images of algae blooms: one image shows a body of water covered in a bright green-yellow algae bloom; the bloom covers the whole image and not one spot of clear water can be seen. Two ducks are swimming in the middle of the algae bloom.
The second image shows several dead fish lying belly up in a dark green algae bloom. The images are captioned “Examples of algae blooms”
Nitrogen pollution leads to:
Loss of biodiversity in ecosystems because of creation of dead zones
Money lost decontaminating drinking water
Tourism losses from algae blooms (not a pretty sight)
Fishing industry losses from dead fish and shellfish
Health problems and disease from toxic algae
Another image of an algae bloom follows. The image is a zoomed out picture of an ocean or sea, and over most of the image is a red algae bloom. The image is captioned: “Famous red tides like the annual algae bloom in. the Gulf Coast kill many fish, shellfish, mammals, and seabirds, and make a lot of seafood.. dangerous to eat.”
Other types of nitrogen pollution contribute to:
acid rain. Nitrous oxide from burning fossil fuels mixes with water and increases precipitation acidity
greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrous oxide has 300 times the effect on atmospheric warming as the same amount of CO2.
soil acidification, which can lead to crop failures. Ammonia fertilizers (which contain nitrogen and hydrogen) are the main cause of soil acidification. groundwater and drinking water contamination.
Nitrate, another fertilizer compound, can find its way into groundwater and well water.
How to reduce nitrogen pollution:
If you walk a pet, pick up after them (for the sake of the envi- ronment and your neighbors)
Use public transportation when possible, and increase your car’s fuel efficiency
If you have a yard, DO NOT OVERUSE FERTILIZER!
Most of all, use only the necessary amount of anything. Don’t overuse household or lawn chemicals.
As with reducing carbon emissions, much of the change will have to come from industries, companies, and government legislation.
Lastly, spread the word and educate others! As more people become aware of this issue, greater change can happen.
To be honest, lately I've been thinking more and more about how our world is stagnating or even becoming more archaic. Yes, unlike the 2000s, many of us have smartphones or iPhones (even in poor countries), and in the media we see articles that "robots will replace us." But in reality, social progress is far from what is desired. We still don't have effective technologies that could prevent aging, medical knowledge that could make childbirth less painful, and in fact, we're VERY far from the automation of production, since it requires a complete change in the economy.
Moreover, we aren't even able to cope with environmental problems and don't think that we need to invest in the education of young people from poor countries, and not to exploit their labor in the mines, as the European population is aging more and more.
After all, if you think about it, the difference between the 1980s and the 2020s is much, much less than the difference between the 1910s and the 1950s.
Smithsonian Institute overview of ocean acidification: more detailed info than what’s in this post
Rate of ocean acidification, paper by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change): the pdf is very long, but the statistics I pulled were from the executive summary portion.
Information on marine sulfur emissions and their impact on climate: (the original study is published on Nature but most of it is behind a paywall :|)
For whatever reason, I can’t find any detailed information on the experiment with sea butterfly shells besides what I’ve included here. The pictures of the shells are by David Liittschwager/National Geographic and can be found here and context for the experiment is here
Links for more information: NOAA article 1, article 2, Smithsonian article on sea butterflies and the different effects that ocean acidification may have on different species, and National Geographic articles
Notes:
I mentioned extra dissolved CO2 levels benefiting many* marine plants, who can use the extra carbon dioxide in photosynthesis to grow more. This is true; however many marine plants are facing other stressors like pollution that acidification/extra CO2 may not make up for.
*many: some algae (primitive plants) that use carbonate ions are projected to severely decline if ocean acidity increases due to the loss of carbonate. There are always exceptions of generalizations.
I also mentioned shelled creatures being negatively impacted. This is going to be the case for mollusks like oysters, mussels, clams, sea urchins, starfish (which use carbonate as well), and corals. HOWEVER, most** crustaceans (lobsters, crabs etc) are projected to benefit because their shells are constructed differently and they can do better in more acidic water.
most**: there is a study on injuries of Dungeness crab larvae due to slightly higher acidity in oceans, which found that they might have higher mortality due to wonky shell formation from raised acidity in the water. Caveat to the study: more research is needed to confirm the findings and find out if they will impact the population in any way.
Additionally, because everything in an ecosystem is interconnected, it’s really highly unlikely that some species will ONLY benefit from ocean acidification.
For example: blue crabs (a crustacean) eat clams and mussels. Clams and mussel populations will decrease because of acidification. Although crabs may construct stronger shells in more acidic waters, if they don’t have any food to eat (less clams and mussels), the crabs won’t do well either.
If this wasn’t clear, ocean acidification should be mitigated the same way you would reduce climate change: by reducing CO2 emissions.
On an individual basis this means you try to: not waste energy (heat, electricity), use public transport when possible, eating local food, etc. all the things that you probably hear a lot regarding climate change.
HOWEVER MUCH OF THE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE BY INDUSTRIES, CORPORATIONS, AND LEGISLATION TO REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS.
also education helps a lot. please spread the word about this; many people have heard of climate change, but very few have heard of ocean acidification and it threatens just as much of life on Earth.
Reblogs are greatly appreciated!!!
Earth Day post: 2/?
Transcript for images below:
One lesser known effect of high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is ocean acidification, which has major impacts on both marine ecosystems and human livelihoods.
CO2 from the atmosphere naturally dissolves into oceans and bodies of water. There, chemical reactions occur which release hydrogen ions (H+), increase ocean acidity, and decrease carbonate ions (CO2-3).
However, humans are producing too much CO2, far faster than the ocean can handle. Each year, oceans absorb 30% of extra, human produced CO2, so any increase in CO2 levels means a drastic increase in ocean acidity.
Over the last 200 years, ocean water has become 30% more acidic. This is the fastest change in ocean chemistry in at least the last 65 million years.
Source: The Ocean, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014
Marine life cannot adapt to changes this quickly, and although decreasing acidity will affect species differently, most (if not all) species will struggle with the change.
So, what are the tangible effects?
More H+ ions make the ocean more acidic, which:
may increase the rate of atmospheric warming.
Increasing acidity decreases the amount of sulfur the ocean emits.
Atmospheric sulfur can cause a cooling effect by reducing the solar energy that reaches Earth
Less carbonate ions negatively impact mollusks and shellfish.
Animals like oysters, other shellfish, and corals use carbonate ions to build and maintain their shells/skeletons. Less carbonate can disrupt the growth of these species and may decrease their numbers.
The ocean’s increasing acidity can also dissolve calcium carbonate shells and skeletons. Following are 4 pictures of a shell that looks similar to a snail shell; the shell is from a sea butterfly, a snail relative, and the pictures document the shell gradually dissolving over a period of 45 days after being placed in a solution that models acidity and carbonate levels projected for 2100. The first picture shows the shell at day 0; it is clear, uniformly transparent, and shiny. The second picture shows the shell at day 15; the shell is now opaque and milky white. It still has the same shape as it was in the beginning. The third picture shows the shell at day 30; it is more transparent, but some parts have begun to deform and the opacity of the shell is no longer uniform. The fourth picture shows the shell at day 45; it is more deformed, and some parts have begun to disappear.
In short, acidification results in:
Less tourism for certain areas (e.g. Great Barrier Reef) as corals suffer
Fishing industry losses, as shellfish species may grow more slowly, be smaller in size, and have higher mortality rates
Higher seafood prices
Large ecosystem shifts everywhere
One positive: increased CO2 levels will benefit most seaweeds, algae, and undersea plants, which use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. However, ocean acidification is negative overall. It’s often called the twin sister of climate change.
How to reduce acidification:
Decrease CO2 emissions
This is not just a 1-person initiative. Industries and governments need to play their part.
Additionally, educate others about this issue!
As more people become aware of ocean acidification, we can create greater change.
Kasidih High School Marks Van Mahotsav With Plantation Drive
Kasidih High School’s primary wing marked Van Mahotsav in Jamshedpur with plantation drives, cultural events and creative activities....
