Browsing Tag 'eutrophication'
by Liza Lester, ESA communications officer The urban density of Baltimore, MD, acquired by Landsat 7, January 1 – December 31, 2001. NASA images by Robert Simmon, based on data from the National Land Cover Database. Caption by Holli Riebeek. Yellow highlight outlines the general location of Watershed 263.______________________________________________ IN the first summer after my [...]
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An idyllic lake turns threatening when heavy rainfall causes a sewage treatment plant to overflow. Within 24 hours, once-benign microbes turn into virulent pathogens, breeding incessantly and attacking the embryos of lake fish. As much as that may sound like the synopsis of a movie on Mystery Science Theater, this is an impact on lake ecosystems that is actually occurring.
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The human industrial and agricultural sectors contribute to air pollution by releasing nitrogen oxides (sometimes denoted NOx) into the atmosphere. And just like ocean acidification occurs when carbon dioxide dissolves into the ocean, soil acidification can occur when nitrogen oxides dissolve into soils. But we also know that nitrogen is a major component of fertilizers, [...]
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