Root Causes and Contributing Factors

1. The burning of fossil fuels is a major contributing factor to this world wide problem. Fossil fuels give off harmful gases, CO2, NO2, and SO2, which accumulate in the atmosphere. These gases then condense and fall back to the earth as acid rain and lower pH levels in bodies of water.
2. Surface runoff of nitrogenous fertilizers is a major contributing factor. Large farms established in flood plains use heavy amounts of fertilizers for their crops. These fertilizers contain nitrogen, which when add to water makes the water very acidic. The runoff of this soil adds large amounts of nitrogen to nearby lakes, streams, and rivers.

Challenges

The challenges in finding the root causes of freshwater acidification is essentially addressing the problems with the way the world gets its energy and food. The burning of fossil fuels and use of fertilizers are two things that we can’t get rid of quite yet if we want to continue as a species, but reform is not impossible in these areas. Finding alternative energy is one main way to solve a large portion of the problem and the other portion is to remove any possible acidic additive to fertilizers.

Policies

Policies like the Clean Water Act are very connected to the issue of water acidification. The EPA has many regulations and policies on thins such as acid rain and clean drinking water. There are not really any specific regulations or policies dealing with water acidification. No regulations control how much acidic compounds get into the water and cause major damage to areas around the US. There should be more regulations in place so that major water acidification issues are stopped and prevented in the future. One major step to this is decreasing carbon emissions and helping to slow down and stop climate change. The US really needs to act on these issues as the are major root causes of the water acidification issues.

Effects On Ohio

One major effect that this issue has on Ohio is the algal bloom problem that Lake Erie faces. These algal blooms are caused by fertilizer runoff and increase the acidification of the water. The more acidic the water gets, the better the environment for algal blooms to grow. The acidification will also affect aquatic organisms and will lead to possible extinction of local species. If the acidification isn’t slowed down, the life in the water of Ohio will be affected forever.

TedTalk:

This tedtalk was very insightful in many of the problems with water, especially ocean, acidification. I learned that if we don’t try to slow down or fix the acidification of the ocean, then by 2100 the water will be over 170% more acidic. The acidity of the ocean will lead to a mass extinction of marine organisms, most of which rely on coral reefs or shells which will dissolve in acidic water. The bias in this talk is towards the anti-climate change side, the main focus is to explain how human actions producing carbon dioxide are affecting the climate and oceans.

Sources:

http://air-quality.org.uk/13.php

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-royal-society-of-edinburgh-section-b-biological-sciences/article/freshwater-acidification-its-effects-on-species-and-communities-of-freshwater-microbes-plants-and-animals/8141A4F525B599FBC2B43EEFA8E5B20E

http://www.sustainable-environment.org.uk/Environment/Freshwater.php

https://phys.org/news/2015-06-freshwater-ocean-acidification-stunts-growth.html

http://enviropedia.org.uk/Acid_Rain/Freshwater.php

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~kagan/phy367/P367_articles/AcidRain/effects-on-lakes.html

The issue that I’m going to explore this semester is the acidification of freshwater. I chose this issue because it is something I can reasonably make a difference for in a short period of time. I also chose this issue because I am an Earth Science major and this relates directly to my field of study. Most of the acidification is based around the tailings of mines and the introduction of certain minerals to the water. Other issues I have explored were fracking, which really interests me, but I can’t really do anything as of now to help fix the issues, and climate change, which also interests me, but I also can’t really help the issues. My final decision was based around what I can actually do to help the issue I’m interested in. Some things I might have trouble with would be to do actual experiments or samples.

My plan for the project is to find a way to increase awareness and possibly find root problems for the acidification of the water in my local area and the world as a whole. I plan to take samples of the water and soil in the surrounding areas around the creeks in my hometown and compare them to data collected around the world to find the severity of acidification in my local area. I have previously done small experiments with this issue with my high school in my AP environmental science class and my earth science class. I hope I can make an actual impact on my hometown.

References:

https://www.clean-flo.com/maintenance/neutralization-of-acid-lakes/

https://webcam.srs.fs.fed.us/pollutants/acidification/

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-254/420-254.html

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
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Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]