Topic > What is eutrophication? - 580

Eutrophication is the ecosystem's response to excessive nutrient richness in an aquatic ecosystem. Eutrophication is normally a non-harmful natural process that occurs when a body of water is aging. The natural cause of eutrophication is the leaching of nutrients from nearby soil and erosion. However, a different type of eutrophication is caused by humans, which accelerates the aging process and creates environmental problems. When there is excessive nutrient richness in a body of water, algae feed on these nutrients and create an algal bloom. Algal blooms are harmful because when they die, a lot of oxygen is used to decompose the remains. This causes hypoxia and sometimes, in severe cases, anoxia. This is harmful to the environment because it can destroy aquatic life in the affected areas. Fish is a type of marine life severely affected by eutrophication. Unfortunately, eutrophication is much more serious today due to human activity. The increase in eutrophic and hypoxic events has been attributed to the rapid increase in agricultural practices and industrial wastes, ...