Jonnah Pangilinan

Professor Dawson

English 101

30 March 2014

Love Thy Earth, Love Thyself

Does anyone ever take the time to appreciate the beauty of the ocean and the life around

it? Listen to the sound of the water crash against the sand, to the sound of the gulls screech in

the distant, to the sound of the distant barking of the seals as they splash in the water. Feel the

ocean breeze brush across your face and through your hair. Smell and taste the salty air and

look at the great ocean blue, the waves clashing against one another resulting in an abundance

of majestic ocean foam. People often take many of nature’s gifts for granted. What once is

beautiful is then swept into a mess of pollution varying in all shapes, sizes, and degrees. The

severity of human pollution to the earth’s waters has increased immensely over the years, of

which fertilization is one of the main sources, resulting in a number of problems that affect not

only the diverse life living within those ecosystems, but the humans who look to the oceans as a

valuable resource.

According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary (2014), to pollute means, “to contaminate

(an environment) especially with man-made waste.” This particularly rings true to marine

environments, because the earth’s oceans receive the brunt of the blow even when the problems

occur on land. When one grows a plant, one must first plant a seed in soil, water it plenty, and

give it sunlight. Aside from the basics, the soil also requires extensive care. When growing a

plant, one would want it to sprout large and thrive healthily. In order to achieve such a result,

one would turn to using fertilizers. Typically, many do not associate fertilizers with pollution.

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To use fertilizers on a plant is alike to giving a child vitamins—it is a healthy boost of nutrients

to aid in the growth process. However, too much of a good thing is harmful.

The use of fertilizers is not uncommon to mankind. The idea of changing the

composition of soil for agriculture appears to have started in Mesopotamia; however, it was not

until the late eighteenth century where the practices of soil science and chemistry had evolved.

(United Nations Industrial Dev. Organization Staff 46) It was learned that in order to keep soil

fertile, the mineral elements found in the dirt must be replenished. This led to the fertilizer

common to humans today. Through these findings, the manufacturing of fertilizer (through

removing the gases from natural gas and steam) came to be. Despite these advancements, it was

not anticipated that there would be so many repercussions. Not only does the manufacturing of

inorganic fertilizer increase the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere that takes part in global

warming, but it affects ocean life as well. When you water a plant, not all of the water you give

it soaks into the roots; it rolls off somewhere else, known as agricultural runoff, and, through

the water cycle, it is known that all water leads back into the ocean.

Water pollution is not limited to just dumping trash into the ocean’s waters. When

leftover agricultural water runs off into the ocean, it carries with it the natural elements

(specifically nitrate) found in the fertilizer. Though an element typically good for growing

plants, it is dangerous in abundance. When a certain area of an ocean has a high concentration

of nitrate, a bloom of algae (which are surprisingly not plants, but protists (not exactly a plant,

but not exactly an animal)) begins to grow. That is because “Nitrate is an important

macronutrient and also acts as a signal for plant growth…” (Crawford and Glass) While it is

notable that these algae growths do occur naturally, the reason for their extended duration,

increased frequency, and pesky persistence has been observed recently is due to anthropogenic

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causes, or simply, the human hand. Algal blooms tend to bring coastal communities millions of

dollars in losses as well as presenting a threat to human health in the form of toxic shellfish

poisoning. (Chrisafis) The type of algae most people would be familiar with would be the

green-colored bloom in lakes and rivers; however, there are certain kinds of algae that can be

toxic, for example, certain species of red, brown, and green algae. Specifically, when a bloom

of red algae occurs, often called a HAB or harmful algal bloom, is spotted in the ocean, many

people are warned to not consume shellfish as “…toxic algae…produce[s] potent neurotoxins

that accumulate in filter-feeding shellfish and poison human consumers.” (Goldstein, T. et al.)

A specific species of red algae, Karina brevis, produces brevetoxins that give gastrointestinal

and neurological symptoms if consumed. “Even non-toxic algae can be harmful when they

accumulate in sufficient numbers—sometimes millions of cells per litre—to discolour the

water, shade submerged vegetation, disrupt food-web dynamics and cause oxygen depletion.”

(Anderson)

In addition to HABs, another water-related problem is eutrophication. Although the

word means “good, healthy development,” it can sometimes be fatal. Usually when an

ecosystem experiences an increase in nutrients, primary producers reap the benefits first. These

primary producers, the algae, grow large and thick across the ocean surface. These dense spots

of algae block the sunlight needed for the plants below, causing them to die off. Eventually, the

algae will die as well. Though this may seem like a good thing, the result of the algae death is

most lethal.

This unorthodox proliferation often leads to the overwhelming prevalence of harmful

toxins in the water produced by the algae as well as bringing the water’s oxygen levels down to

conditions, which are in turn deleterious to the other species living within the water. When an

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organism dies, it must decompose. In order for it to decompose, bacteria must be present to

break it down. Bacteria, however, requires oxygen to survive. In the eutrophic areas with the

dead plants and algae, bacteria go to work and eat away at the dead matter. Their hard work

results in hypoxia, which is when “the rate of…organic decay outpaces fresh supplies of

oxygenated surface water.” (Diaz and Rosenberg) These areas of oxygen-depleted water are

called dead zones, simply because the area is dead of oxygen and without oxygen, it is dead of

life. When a fish, for example, swims through these dead zones, it suffocates. There is no

oxygen present for it to breathe in, so it dies. What are now left are dead fishes and

invertebrates littering the ocean floor.

While algal blooms in some locations seem to occur naturally, the preventable form of

algal blooms are caused by cultural eutrophication, in which the “cultural” indicates human

activity has contributed significantly to the process. This can be prevented or reduced by means

of smart farming practices such as the use of compost – an organic fertilizer typically made

with yard waste, kitchen vegetable scraps, office scraps, and several other biodegradable

objects – as an alternative to artificial fertilizers.

Though prevention is always the best cure, when the damage has already been done,

there are a few consistent solutions to getting rid of the extra nutrients held in the water. One

solution to removing these excess nutrients, most notably nitrates, is to employ methods used in

the water reclamation process, which is a long process involving bacteria and the process of

denitrification. Denitrification is a process that converts nitrates into diatomic nitrogen.

Nitrogen is the primary constituent of our atmosphere, comprising approximately 79 percent of

its total content. Releasing nitrogen back into the atmosphere is essential to the nitrogen cycle,

and therefore nature’s processes and all organism that rely on it, including humans.

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Therefore, inorganic fertilizers are dangerous. The manufacturing of these soil

enhancers proves detrimental to not only marine life, but also human life as well. It spurs a

deadly chain of events of neurotoxicity and asphyxiation in both life on land and in water.

Constant human interference with nature, through means of pollution on land, in the air, and in

the sea, is showing its signs of wear and has already been displaying its harmful effects for

years. Without prevention and proper damage control, it will only tragically worsen.

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Work Cited

Chrisafis, Angelique. “Lethal Algae Take over Beaches in Northern France.” The Guardian. 10

Aug. 2009. 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited. 27 Mar. 2014. Web.

United Nations Industrial Developmental Organization Staff. Fertilizer Manual. Dordrecht:

Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998. Print.

Crawford, Nigel and Glass, Anthony. “Molecular and physiological aspects of nitrate uptake in

plants.” Trends in Plant Science 3.10 (1998): 389-395. Web.

Goldstein, T. et al. Novel symptomatology and changing epidemiology of domoic acid toxicosis

in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus): an increasing risk to marine mammal

health. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 275, 267-276 (2008).

Web.

Anderson, Donald M. “Turning Back the Harmful Red Tide.” Nature 1997 : 513–514.

Diaz, Robert J and Rosenberg, Rutger. “Spreading dead zones and consequences for marine

ecosystems.” Science 321.5891 (2008): 926-929. Web.

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