Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Eutrophication can be a natural process and occurs naturally through the gradual accumulation of sediment and nutrients. Naturally, eutrophication is usually caused by the natural accumulation of nutrients from dissolved phosphate minerals and dead plant matter in water. [29] [30] Natural eutrophication has been well-characterized in lakes.
It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters (lakes, rivers and coastal waters), in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algal growth. [1] Sources of nutrient pollution include surface runoff from farm fields and pastures, discharges from septic tanks and feedlots , and emissions from combustion.
Aquatic and marine dead zones can be caused by an increase in nutrients (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus) in the water, known as eutrophication. These nutrients are the fundamental building blocks of single-celled, plant-like organisms that live in the water column, and whose growth is limited in part by the availability of these materials.
Manmade, or cultural, eutrophication occurs when sewage, industrial wastewater, fertilizer runoff, and other nutrient sources are released into the environment. [83] Such nutrient pollution usually causes algal blooms and bacterial growth, resulting in the depletion of dissolved oxygen in water and causing substantial environmental degradation .
Individual species will have different adaptive responses to anoxic conditions based on their biological makeup and the condition of their habitat. While some can pump oxygen from higher water levels down into the sediment, other adaptations include specific hemoglobins for low-oxygen environments, slow movement to reduce the rate of metabolism ...
Phosphates from fertilizers, sewage and detergents can cause pollution in lakes and streams. Over-enrichment of phosphate in both fresh and inshore marine waters can lead to massive algae blooms which, when they die and decay leads to eutrophication of freshwaters only.
For example, a warmer atmosphere can contain more water vapor which has effects on evaporation and rainfall. The underlying cause of the intensifying water cycle is the increased amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which lead to a warmer atmosphere through the greenhouse effect. [24]
Jellyfish can tolerate hypoxic conditions where more sensitive species cannot. [1] [3] Cultural eutrophication and the increasing hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, [13] for example, appears to have also increased jellyfish populations. [3] [16] Jellyfish conglomeration on an artificial surface, Monterey Aquarium.