phosphorous

Reducing farm nutrient pollution

December 11, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

When farmers add nutrients to their fields in excess of their crops’ ability to utilize them, these excess nutrients can enter the surrounding environments and create environmental problems. The primary culprits are nitrogen and phosphorous. These fertilizer components emerge from fields and enter local waterways in surface runoff.

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a form of designer biochar that can provide phosphorous in a time-released fashion and reduce the amount that escapes into the environment.

The researchers used sawdust and lime sludge, which are byproducts from milling and water treatment plants, respectively. They mixed the two ingredients and formed pellets which were then slow-burned in low-oxygen conditions to create phosphorous-laden designer biochar. Once the pellets bind all the phosphorous they can hold, they can be spread onto fields where the nutrient is slowly released over time.

They tested the pellets in working field conditions. The pellets are used to remove phosphorous from drainage water and then can be reused in the field to provide the nutrient to the plants.

The results were very encouraging. The biochar proved to be a very effective way to provide phosphorous to crops and then reduce how much phosphorous enters the environment. The cost of producing the biochar pellets was less than half that of alternative substances for phosphorous removal.

There is currently no regulation that requires farmers to remove phosphorous from drainage water but there are a growing number of conservation-minded farmers who want to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous losses from their fields. The idea that the recyclable pellets can both provide and control phosphorous is an attractive one.

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Scientists tackle farm nutrient pollution with sustainable, affordable designer biochar pellets

Photo, posted July 16, 2016, courtesy of Rick Obst via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fertilizers from wastewater sludge

July 30, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Sewage sludge is the mud-like residue that is produced as a byproduct during wastewater treatment. In the U.S., sewage sludge is referred to as biosolids after it’s been treated. The term is meant to distinguish the higher quality, treated sludge from raw sludge and from sludge that contains large quantities of environmental pollutants.

However, according to a new study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University, fertilizers manufactured from the sludgy leftovers of wastewater treatment processes can still contain traces of potentially hazardous organic chemicals.

The research, which was recently published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, provides one of the most comprehensive looks at the chemical composition of biosolids across the country.

Biosolids do contain valuable organic matter and nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than half of the 3.76 million tons of biosolids produced in the U.S. in 2022 fertilized agricultural lands, golf courses, and other landscaped areas.

In the study, the research team screened 16 samples of biosolids from wastewater treatment facilities in nine U.S. and three Canadian cities. The researchers then created lists of the chemicals found in each sample. They found 92 common compounds that were present in 80% or more of the samples. The researchers cross-referenced those 92 compounds against the EPA’s CompTox Chemical Dashboard to identify which chemicals were most likely to pose threats to human health or the environment.

The findings could help the EPA identify which organic compounds to investigate further and which chemical contaminants may need government regulation.

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Team Aims to Improve Safety of Fertilizers Made from Wastewater Sludge

Photo, posted November 2, 2011, courtesy of Susana Secretariat via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Palm oil and water quality

June 3, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Palm oil is the world’s cheapest and most widely used vegetable oil. In fact, more than 86 million tons of palm oil was consumed last year alone. Even though few of us cook with it, palm oil can be found in approximately half of all packaged grocery items – everything from ice creams and pizzas to detergents and cosmetics.

This massive global demand for palm oil is driving tropical deforestation around the world. While many studies have shown how converting rainforests to oil palm plantations causes biodiversity loss, researchers from UMass Amherst are the first to demonstrate how these plantations also cause wide-ranging disturbances to nearby watersheds.

In the study, which was recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, the research team focused on the Kais River watershed of West Papua, a province in the far east of Indonesia. Approximately 25% of the watershed has been turned into oil palm plantations. The watershed is also one of the oldest continually inhabited homes for different groups of Indigenous Papuans.

The researchers found that the conversion of tropical rainforest to oil palm plantation has increased precipitation, runoff, and soil moisture. Water quality in the watershed has also gotten dramatically worse: sedimentation has increased by 16.9%, nitrogen by 78.1%, and phosphorus by 144%.

The research team hopes regulators will work to limit the use of pesticides, conduct continuous water quality monitoring, and ensure that downstream communities have access to water quality information.

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Oil Palm Plantations Are Driving Massive Downstream Impact to Watershed

Photo, posted December 13, 2008, courtesy of Fitri Agung via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Golf courses gone wild

March 18, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Golf courses are a significant burden on the environment. The US has 16,000 golf courses which use 1.5 billion gallons of water a day and are treated with 100,000 tons of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium each year. In recent years, the golf industry has taken steps to lighten its environmental toll by using less water, introducing pollinator-friendly plants, and decreasing pesticide and fertilizer use. The US has more golf courses than any other country, accounting for 42% of all courses worldwide.

There is really an oversupply of golf courses and, as a result, more golf courses have closed than have opened since 2006. Most closed golf courses end up in the hands of commercial or residential developers, but some of them are allowed to return to nature.

For this to happen, there has to be a willing seller and, more importantly, a conservation-minded buyer who can afford both to purchase the land and to restore it to a natural state. There have been 28 former golf courses transformed into public green spaces between 2010 and the end of 2022. But that number seems to be growing.

In 2023, the former Cedar View Golf Course on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake in upstate New York was bought by the Finger Lakes Land Trust. In California, places like Santa Barbara, Marin County, and even Palm Springs have all undertaken the transformation of former golf courses into public parklands.

Rewilding a golf course is undoubtedly a disappointment to local golfers, but it can bring big benefits to animals, plants, and people.

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After Shutting Down, These Golf Courses Went Wild

Photo, posted October 19, 2016, courtesy of Cabo Girao via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Seabirds rescuing coral reefs

January 8, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new study by researchers at Lancaster University in the UK has found that the presence of seabirds on islands adjacent to tropical coral reefs can more than double the coral growth rates on those reefs.

The study found that when coral reefs grow faster, they can bounce back more quickly from bleaching events that occur when the seas become too warm. The focus of the study was a type of coral called Acropora, which provides complex structures supporting fish populations and reef growth.

The researchers found that Acropora around islands populated by seabirds recovered from bleaching events about 10 months faster than reefs located away from seabird colonies. Speeding up coral recovery times could prove the difference between continuing to bounce back from bleaching events and dying off.

The seabirds are helping the coral reefs with their droppings. The birds feed on fish in the open ocean far from islands and then return to the islands to roost. They deposit nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich nutrients in the form of guano, some of which is washed off of the islands by rain and into the surrounding seas. The nutrients fertilize corals and other marine species.

To determine whether the faster growth rates were really due to the bird-supplied nutrients, the researchers studied rat-infested islands that had no bird populations. The study confirmed that it was the presence of seabirds that provided enhanced nutrients for the coral reefs. In fact, a primary outcome of the study was to add further weight to the growing body of evidence of the ecological damage across ecosystems on land and sea from invasive rats on tropical islands.

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Feathered friends can become unlikely helpers for tropical coral reefs facing climate change threat

Photo, posted September 15, 2019, courtesy of Rickard Zerpe via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Below-Average Dead Zone In The Gulf of Mexico | Earth Wise

July 20, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Gulf of Mexico dead zone, or hypoxic area, is an area of low oxygen content that can kill fish and other marine life. It occurs every summer and is mostly a result of excess nutrient pollution from human activities in cities and farms throughout the Mississippi River watershed. The nutrients carried by the river into the gulf stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which eventually die and decompose, which depletes oxygen in the water as the algae sink to the bottom.

The resultant low oxygen levels near the bottom of the gulf cannot support most marine life. Fish and shrimp often leave the area seeking better places to be. Animals that can’t swim away – like mussels and crabs – can be stressed by the low oxygen level or even killed.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration produces a dead zone forecast each year based on a suite of models developed by NOAA and partners at multiple universities.

The latest forecast, completed in May, found that the discharge of nutrients in the rivers was about one-third below the long-term average between 1980 and 2022. Nitrate loads were down 42% and phosphorous levels down 5%.

Based on these measurements, the scientists forecast a summer dead zone that will cover an estimated 4,155 square miles, which is 22% lower than the 36-year average of 5,364 square miles. Ongoing efforts by the Interagency Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force to reduce nutrient levels seem to be paying off.

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NOAA forecasts below-average summer ‘dead zone’ in Gulf of Mexico

Photo, posted September 6, 2013, courtesy of NOAA Photo Library via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A New “Wonder Material” | Earth Wise

February 11, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Graphene is a form of carbon made of single-atom-thick layers. It has many remarkable properties and researchers around the world continue to investigate its use in multiple applications.

In 2019, a new material composed of single-atom-thick layers was produced for the first time. It is phosphorene nanoribbons or PNRs, which are ribbon-like strands of two-dimensional phosphorous. These materials are tiny ribbons that can be a single atomic layer thick and less than 100 atoms wide but millions of atoms long. They are comparable in aspect ratio to the cables that span the Golden Gate Bridge. Theoretical studies have predicted how PNR properties could benefit all sorts of devices, including batteries, biomedical sensors, thermoelectric devices, nanoelectronics, and quantum computers.

As an example, nanoribbons have great potential to create faster-charging batteries because they can hold more ions than can be stored in conventional battery materials.

Recently, for the first time, a team of researchers led by Imperial College London and University College London researchers has used PNRs to significantly improve the efficiency of a device. The device is a new kind of solar cell, and it represents the first demonstration that this new wonder material might actually live up to its hype.

The researchers incorporated PNRs into solar cells made from perovskites. The resultant devices had an efficiency above 21%, which is comparable to traditional silicon solar cells. Apart from the measured results, the team was able to experimentally verify the mechanism by which the PNRs enhanced the improved efficiency.

Further studies using PNRs in devices will allow researchers to discover more mechanisms for how they can improve performance.

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‘Wonder material’ phosphorene nanoribbons live up to hype in first demonstration

Photo, posted October 6, 2010, courtesy of Alexander AlUS / CORE-Materials via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Saharan Dust And The Amazon | Earth Wise

October 23, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

We talk about globalization primarily in the context of how human activities connect up distant parts of the world. But there are natural processes that are global in scope as well. One of these is the transportation of mineral-rich dust from the Sahara Desert in North Africa to the Amazon Basin in South America.

Every year, this dust is lifted into the atmosphere by winds and carried on a 5,000-mile journey across the North Atlantic. It turns out that this dust plays a critical role in the Amazon basin ecosystem. The Amazon Basin in turn plays a major role in global climate. Its trees and plants remove huge quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores the carbon in vegetation.

The transcontinental journey of dust is important because of what is in the dust. The dust picked up from ancient lake beds in Chad comes from rock minerals formed by dead microorganisms and is loaded with phosphorus. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant growth and is in short supply in Amazonian soils. Local nutrients like phosphorus in the Amazon mostly come from fallen, decomposing leaves and organic matter but tend to be washed away by rainfall into streams and rivers.

Studies have shown that the phosphorus that reaches Amazon soils from Saharan dust is essential to replace the amounts lost to rain and flooding.

Recent research has found that the quantities of dust transported to South America are inversely linked to rainfall in North Africa and is likely to be affected by climate change. Changes in dust transport could affect plant growth in the Amazon and the amount of CO₂ removed from the atmosphere. The forces that affect the climate are truly global in nature.

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Study quantifies Saharan dust reaching Amazon

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Powerful Case For Protecting Whales

October 24, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Efforts to mitigate climate change typically face two major challenges. One is to find effective ways to reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The other is how to raise enough money to implement climate mitigation strategies.

Many proposed solutions to climate change, like carbon capture and storage, are complex, expensive, and in some cases, untested. What if there was a low-tech solution that was effective and economical?

Well, it turns out there is one, and it comes from a surprisingly simple, “no-tech” strategy to capture CO2: increase global whale populations.

According to a recent analysis by economists with the International Monetary Fund, whales help fight climate change by sequestering CO2 in the ocean.

Whales sequester carbon in a few ways. They hoard it in their fat and protein-rich bodies, stockpiling tons of carbon apiece. When whales die, they turn into literal carbon sinks on the ocean floor. While alive, whales dive to feed on tiny marine organisms like krill and plankton before surfacing to breathe and excrete. Those latter activities release an enormous plume of nutrients, including nitrogen, iron, and phosphorous, into the water. These so-called “poo-namis” stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, microscopic marine algae that pull CO2 out of the air and return oxygen to the air via photosynthesis. Phytoplankton are responsible for every other breath we take, contributing at least 50% of all oxygen to the atmosphere and capturing approximately 40% of all CO2 produced.

With other economic benefits like ecotourism factored in, economists estimate that each whale is worth $2 million over its lifetime, making the entire global population possibly a one trillion dollar asset to humanity.

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How much is a whale worth?

Photo, posted June 12, 2013, courtesy of Gregory Smith via Flickr.

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The Ecology Of Dust

January 19, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It isn’t something we think about very often, but dust is a connector of ecosystems around the world. Dust carries various minerals and nutrients to places where such things are in very scarce supply. This includes the oceans of the world as well as many forests and other ecosystems. For example, phosphorus-bearing dust carried from the Gobi Desert is essential to the growth of giant redwoods in California’s Sierra Mountains.

[Read more…] about The Ecology Of Dust

Preventing Toxic Algal Blooms

May 12, 2016 By WAMC WEB

We have talked about the growing problem of toxic algal blooms on a number of occasions. The increasing occurrence of these blooms has been associated with rising temperatures and carbon dioxide levels as well as the presence of wastewater nutrients and agricultural fertilizers in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. The most notable incident occurred in the summer of 2014, when algae contamination in Lake Erie left 400,000 residents in Ohio and Michigan without water for 72 hours.