Ammonia (NH3) is an atmospheric pollutant that has complex and interesting effects on the environment. Despite NH3 being alkaline, it contributes to soil and freshwater acidification by releasing of H+ ions during the microbial nitrification of Ammonium ions (NH4+) to Nitrate ions (NO3−). Interestingly it raises local levels of soil nitrogen, which may actually enhance […]
Month: September 2020
On Nutrient Pollution, Part 2: Bad HAB(its) [TEASER TRAILER 4K HD]
Jokes aside, this is something a little different to make this blog assignment more fun. I hope you guys enjoyed it! This is a prelude to a bigger post on Harmful Algal Blooms. While the themes represented in this audio play may have been intended as comedic drama, the reality of it is much […]
On Nutrient Pollution, Part 1: Too Much of a Good Thing
One of the most common forms of agricultural pollution is nutrient pollution. “Hol’up, aren’t nutrients a good thing?” my strawman retorts. Well dear strawman and hopefully reader (in the hope that someone actually reads these), ever heard about the saying ‘too much of a good thing is bad’? Yeah, this is one of those times. […]
Agriculture: Growing Food – Growing Problems – Growing Definitions
Farming as a concept has done a lot for us a species, it was because of agriculture that we were able to transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer societies to more permanent settlements (Barker, 2006). The development of a system in which a subset of the population is dedicated entirely to food production has facilitated the rise […]
Fresh From the Oven
Hello fellow student pollution bloggers! I am Justin, a year 4 Life Sciences Major, I’m taking this module as part of my minor in Aquatic Ecology. While life science is generally thought of as biology, to view it in isolation is to ignore the complexity of nature and interplay of between organisms and their environment. […]