Pollution, Acid Rain, Sustainability, and the Global Nitrogen Cycle
Take home message:
“Element cycles interact and control many environmental problems — they can’t be studied in isolation. “
Main Terms:
N-fixation, denitrification, mineralization (= decomposition)
Acid Rain (acidity)
Base saturation
Buffering capacity
Dead zones
1. Concepts — Nitrogen Cycle:
- What are the different forms of nitrogen? Do these forms make the nitrogen cycle more or less complicated than the carbon cycle?
- Accounting of nitrogen on Earth — what are the major reservoirs for nitrogen?
- What are the pathways and reactions that transfer nitrogen (generally)?
- What is the residence time of nitrogen in the atmosphere? Which is more reactive, N2 vs. NOX?
- Understand how element “reactivity” is related to residence time and the size of reservoir.
2. Concepts — Acid Rain:
- What are the controls on nitrogen that are related directly to acid rain?
- How does acid rain affect nutrient cycling and rock weathering?
- What effect does acid rain have on trees and other plants, and on fish and other aquatic organisms?
- How is buffering capacity of the soils related to the effects of acid rain?
- How are the sulfur and nitrogen cycles related when it comes to forming acid rain?
3. Concepts — Dead Zones:
- What are the two most important nutrients that control plant (algae) growth in lakes and oceans?
- How are algal blooms related to the creation of dead zones?
- Why is a dead zone called “dead” – can no organisms live there?
- How does the stratification of water layers in lakes and oceans help create dead zones?
- What solutions are available to help reduce dead zones?