Thought this might interest those of you who rely on water for life.
:^)
peace
mish
(I apologize for the flood of messages today; I'm catching up.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Runoff killing coastal wildlife
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Web-posted: 10:53 p.m. Apr. 4, 2000
(Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, AP)
WASHINGTON -- Fish and other marine life are being
killed and
marshlands damaged in more than a third of the
nation's coastal
areas from algae blooms caused by the runoff of excess
nutrients, the National Academy of Sciences said
Tuesday.
The scientists concluded that the problem of
coastal
pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers
is so severe
and widespread that states require federal help.
The nutrients
often travel hundreds of miles along rivers before
they create
problems.
"Conditions in many coastal areas are expected
to worsen
unless action is taken now to reduce nutrient
pollution," said
Robert Howarth, a professor of ecology and
environmental
biology at Cornell University, and the panel's
chairman.
Algae blooms caused by an overabundance of
nutrients --
specifically, excessive nitrogen from agricultural
fertilizers or
poultry waste -- have been linked to a decline of
fisheries, the
death of manatees along the Florida coast, and the
loss of
coral reefs and sea grasses, the panel said.
Algae blooms have been blamed for years for the
so-called
dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico along the Louisiana
and Texas
coast. Large amounts of nutrients flowing from the
Farm Belt
into and down the Mississippi River have caused the
massive
dead zone -- the size of New Jersey -- each spring
in the Gulf
of Mexico. Scientists estimated the amount of
nitrogen pouring
from the river into the Gulf has tripled, and the
amount of
phosphorous doubled, in the past 40 years.
But the report by the Academy's National
Research Council
said that nitrogen and phosphorous pollution is causing
environmental damage along almost all of the
nation's estuaries,
with severe problems identified in 44 of the 139
coastal areas
examined.
"Excess nitrogen in our coastal waters starts a
dangerous
chain of ecological events that is exacerbating
harmful algae
blooms such as red tides, contaminating shellfish,
killing coastal
wildlife, reducing biodiversity, destroying sea
grass, and
contributing to a host of other environmental
problems,"
Howarth said.
Severe problem areas, where there were symptoms
of low
oxygen levels, toxic algae blooms and loss of submerged
aquatic vegetation, were found along the coasts of nine
states: Washington, California, Louisiana, Texas,
Florida, North
Carolina, Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts.
The most severe problems were reported in the
mid-Atlantic
states and the Gulf of Mexico, the report said.
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