First the Cause then the effect

First the Cause then the effect

 

"It's been said that nitrogen pollution is the biggest environmental disaster that nobody has heard of," Alan Townsend, Ph.D., observed at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held in Denver.

Today a story in Science Daily caught my attention.  “Nitrogen Pollution Changing Rocky Mountain National Park Vegetation”. Here it is --  (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120705172150.htm).  It sparked my curiosity, so some research.

“Reactive” nitrogen is the bad nitrogen. It is different than the 78% that makes up the atmosphere. 

It was created to help sustain an early and growing agricultural market. It did boost production of crops, unfortunately negative impacts are arising.  Studies have shown nitrogen based pollution can cause decreased biodiversity, acidified soil, and climate change. 

Nitrogen pollution is pollution caused by man made reactive nitrogen compounds. These compounds are emitted by cars, power plants, automobiles, and agriculture.  See a theme, all human activity. 

The University of Colorado Boulder did a study on the vegetation of the Rocky Mountain National Park in relation to nitrogen pollution. The study showed increased nitrogen over time impacted the vegetation growing within a study  area.  They increased the nitrogen in a different control area to see what the future of the Rocky Mountains will be pending no decrease in nitrogen emissions.  Organisms able to tolerate higher amounts of nitrogen survive, those that cannot tolerate the nitrogen will die.  This could mean huge shifts in habitat and life.   In addition they found increased changes in algae, acidified soil and aquatic animals.

Why does this matter to you?

 This could set off a chain reaction with consequences we are not even aware of yet.  And yes you should worry.

Nitrogen Pollution is one of those things that you don’t want to talk about.  

As an individual, it is hard to admit that what we do everyday does directly affect everyone else that lives on this planet. Most people have a hard time with the big picture.  

 We have a  population of over a billion and growing.  Things change,  we need to  adapt.  If we change our everyday practices just a little bit, but do it every day we can all make an actual difference.  

We ALL need  to care enough to change our lifestyles. Even if it is just a small change. Feeling like this doesn’t apply to you, or even better, you think your going to die anyway so why bother? – Well that’s just  kind of sad.  Have some pride in your planet and yourself.

I get it - no person likes to be told what to do. 

There are times however that we need to look closely at ourselves to see if what we are doing is absolutely necessary and is it necessarily good for us.

 After all we ALL have to live here - together.

Even as a little kid I was taught to never poo where you eat. This goes far beyond our own homes. This applies to our earth. 

Nitrogen pollution is what they call non-point pollution, you can’t pin point exactly where it’s coming from. That does not mean we shouldn’t take action. 

It means we all need to take action.  We are all responsible.  

So how can we do something as an individual? 

I used this website to figure out my N-print or Nitrogen print http://www.n-print.org/sites/n-print.org/files/footprint_sql/index.html#/home. It is super simple, just a few questions.

Here was mine: It’s lower because I am a vegetarian and my driving has gone down substantially in the last few months due to working from home. 

So how can we make everyday easy changes to help?  Stay educated.

Food is a big factor.

·        

            Read labels.  Where does your food come from?  Try to buy food produced by sustainable farms.  I know Wal-mart is cheap, and most of us are not the 1% but you get what you pay for.  You and your family’s health are worth more than that, right?  You can get great deals at local farmers markets they let you try the food first and it’s a fun excursion for the whole family. 

·         Don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach. Our culture wastes a whole lot of food.  If we consume more than we eat, we are producing more than we need to.   This will in turn be wasted.  It’s a vicious cycle. 

Energy is another biggie. 

·         Try to be more efficient with your household utilities.  Turn of lights, try to use electric appliances.

·         Choose to bike or walk more.

·         Drive a bunch?  See if you can buy a car that has better gas mileage or carpool.  This will also help your wallet.

·         If you are super awesome try alternative energy like wind or solar power.

If we can change just a few tiny things here and there believe it or not we can make a difference.

Let’s all remember everything we do leaves a mark. Even as they say "leave only footprints", sometimes even the footprint makes a difference. 

Reactive Nitrogen is directly a result of human activity and it directly affects our health. It is something we should be aware of in our everyday lives.

What is your Nitrogen footprint and how are you awesome enough to help the earth?

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References

University of Colorado at Boulder (2012, July 5). Nitrogen pollution changing Rocky Mountain National Park vegetation. ScienceDaily.

Website: http://www.n-print.org/change