Title: Phosphorus- A Looming Crisis
Author: David A. Vaccari
A:
B:
Land ecosystems use and reuse phosphorus in local cycles an average of 46 times. The mineral then, through weathering and runoff, makes its way into the ocean, where marine organisms may recycle it some 800 times before it passes into sediments. Over tens of millions of years tectonic uplift may return it to dry land.Harvesting breaks up the cycle because it removes phosphorus from the land. In prescientific agriculture, when human and animal waste served as fertilizers, nutrients went back into the soil at roughly the rate they had been withdrawn. But our modern society separates food production and consumption, which limits our ability to return nutrients to the land. Instead we use them once and then flush them away. Agriculture also accelerates land erosion— because plowing and tilling disturb and expose the soil—so more phosphorus drains away with runoff. And flood control contributes to disrupting the natural phosphorus cycle. Typically river floods would redistribute phosphorus-rich sediment to lower lands where it is again available for ecosystems. An average human body contains about 650 grams of phosphorus, most of it in our bones. It's important that we help do something about it. That's why the author's message, is that we should do something about the loss of phosphorus deposits.
C:
For thousands of years, agriculture used only organic waste and remains to fertilize crops. The production, consumption and disposal of food formed a closed loop, and net phosphorus in the cycle remained relatively constant. Today, however, large-scale agriculture in the wake of the green revolution demands focused, synthetic fertilizers to provide the nutrients for higher-yield crops. Phosphorus and nitrogen are mined from the ground and removed from the air, such that the entire cycle is thrown out of balance.Another example of sustainable practices in poverty alleviation is the use of exported recycled materials from developed to developing countries, such as Bridges to Prosperity's use of wire rope from shipping container gantry cranes to act as the structural wire rope for footbridges that cross rivers in poor rural areas in Asia and Africa. We should do something about this problem. Many geologists are skeptical about the existence of a phosphorus crisis and reckon that estimates of resources and their duration are moving targets. The meaning of reserves is dynamic because, when prices increase, deposits that use to be considered too expensive to access reclassify as reserves. Shortages or price swings can stimulate conservation efforts or the development of extraction technologies.
So What?
Over tens of millions of years tectonic uplift may return it to dry land. Harvesting breaks up the cycle because it removes phosphorus from the land. flood control contributes to disrupting the natural phosphorus cycle. too much phosphorus from eroded soil & from human and animal waste ends up in lakes & oceans, where it spurs massive, uncontrolled blooms of cyanobacteria & alga
Say Who?
David A. Vaccari
What If?
The IGCP reckoned in 1987 that there might be some 163,000 million metric tons of phosphate rock worldwide, corresponding to more than 13,000 million metric tons of phosphorus
This Remind me of?
to grow as the population increases and as people in developing countries demand a higher standard of living. Increased meat consumption, in particular, likely to put more pressure on the land, because animals eat more food than the food they become
Author: David A. Vaccari
A:
- The conditions for the vigorous growth of plants often boil down to three numbers.
- The percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, prominently displayed on every package of fertilizer.
- We obtain nitrogen from the air, but we must mine phosphorus and potassium.
- Reserves of phosphorus are even less evenly distributed than oil's rasing additional supply concerns.
- 40% of global reserves are controlled by a single country, Morocco, sometimes referred to as the "Saudi Arabia of phosphorus."
- Tripled the natural rate of phosphorus depletion from the land
- excessive runoff into waterways is feeding uncontrolled algal blooms and throwing aquatic ecosystems off kilter.
- The natural cycle, weathering releases phosphorus from rocks into soil.
- Take up by plants it enters the food chain and makes its way through every living being.
- Land ecosystems use and reuse phosphorus in local cycles and average of 46 times.
- Over tens of millions of years tectonic unlift may return it to dry land.
- Too much phosphorus from eroded soil
- from human and animal waste ends up in lakes and oceans where it spurs massive, uncontrolled blooms of cyanobacteria and algae.
- Phosphorus flows now add up to an estimated 37 million metric tons per year.
- The IGCP reckoned in 1987 that there might be some 163,000 million metric tons of phosphate rock worldwide,
- corresponding to more than 13,000 million metric tons of phosphorus, seemingly enough to last nearly a milennium.
- The tallies also include deposits that are inaccessible because of their depth or location offshore.
- To grow as the population increases and as people in developing countries demand a higher standard of living.
- The US produces about 30 million metric tons of phosphate rock a year
- which should last 40 years, assuming today's rate of production.
- essentially fixed total amount of each element.
- In the natural cycle, weathering releases phosphorus from rocks into soil
- Phosphorus usually in the form of the phosphate ion PO43 is an irreplaceable ingredient of life
- An average human body contains about 650 grams of phosphorus, most of it in our bone
- Land ecosystems use and reuse phosphorus in local cycles an average of 46 times
- Once they die & fall to the bottom, their decay starves other organisms of oxygen, creating “dead zones”and contributing to the depletion of fisheries.
- phosphorus flows now add up to an estimated 37 million metric tons per year
- The U.S. produces about 30 million metric tons of phosphate rock a year, which should last 40 years, assuming today’s rate of production
- Some geologists are skeptical about the existence of a phosphorus crisis & reckon that estimates of resources & their duration are moving targets
- Shortages/price swings can stimulate conservation efforte/the development of extraction technologies
- regions occupy 22% of the earth’s land surface but contain only 2% of the known phosphorus reserves
B:
Land ecosystems use and reuse phosphorus in local cycles an average of 46 times. The mineral then, through weathering and runoff, makes its way into the ocean, where marine organisms may recycle it some 800 times before it passes into sediments. Over tens of millions of years tectonic uplift may return it to dry land.Harvesting breaks up the cycle because it removes phosphorus from the land. In prescientific agriculture, when human and animal waste served as fertilizers, nutrients went back into the soil at roughly the rate they had been withdrawn. But our modern society separates food production and consumption, which limits our ability to return nutrients to the land. Instead we use them once and then flush them away. Agriculture also accelerates land erosion— because plowing and tilling disturb and expose the soil—so more phosphorus drains away with runoff. And flood control contributes to disrupting the natural phosphorus cycle. Typically river floods would redistribute phosphorus-rich sediment to lower lands where it is again available for ecosystems. An average human body contains about 650 grams of phosphorus, most of it in our bones. It's important that we help do something about it. That's why the author's message, is that we should do something about the loss of phosphorus deposits.
C:
For thousands of years, agriculture used only organic waste and remains to fertilize crops. The production, consumption and disposal of food formed a closed loop, and net phosphorus in the cycle remained relatively constant. Today, however, large-scale agriculture in the wake of the green revolution demands focused, synthetic fertilizers to provide the nutrients for higher-yield crops. Phosphorus and nitrogen are mined from the ground and removed from the air, such that the entire cycle is thrown out of balance.Another example of sustainable practices in poverty alleviation is the use of exported recycled materials from developed to developing countries, such as Bridges to Prosperity's use of wire rope from shipping container gantry cranes to act as the structural wire rope for footbridges that cross rivers in poor rural areas in Asia and Africa. We should do something about this problem. Many geologists are skeptical about the existence of a phosphorus crisis and reckon that estimates of resources and their duration are moving targets. The meaning of reserves is dynamic because, when prices increase, deposits that use to be considered too expensive to access reclassify as reserves. Shortages or price swings can stimulate conservation efforts or the development of extraction technologies.
So What?
Over tens of millions of years tectonic uplift may return it to dry land. Harvesting breaks up the cycle because it removes phosphorus from the land. flood control contributes to disrupting the natural phosphorus cycle. too much phosphorus from eroded soil & from human and animal waste ends up in lakes & oceans, where it spurs massive, uncontrolled blooms of cyanobacteria & alga
Say Who?
David A. Vaccari
What If?
The IGCP reckoned in 1987 that there might be some 163,000 million metric tons of phosphate rock worldwide, corresponding to more than 13,000 million metric tons of phosphorus
This Remind me of?
to grow as the population increases and as people in developing countries demand a higher standard of living. Increased meat consumption, in particular, likely to put more pressure on the land, because animals eat more food than the food they become