Social Impact Of Eutrophication

Another social impact of eutrophication is an overall loss of biodiversity in areas of severe nutrient input due to the hypoxic conditions that can occur. As large amounts of algae go through their life cycles, decomposers subsequently eat the dead algae. As these algae are decomposed, the decomposers use up the oxygen in the surrounding water which leads to low oxygen conditions if carried on for long periods of time. Due to these low oxygen conditions, other organisms such as fish cannot survive in these areas and die. This can create large dead zones where few organisms can survive. As Dybas(2005) states in her article “Worldwide, there are now some 146 coastal dead zones. Since the 1960s, according to a report by the United Nations Environment

The presence of excess nutrients in fresh water bodies can breed bacteria that can kill both livestock and humans if not properly filtered and sanitized. This is particularly problematic in areas that do not have access to clean water such as developing countries. The presence of excess nutrients in water supplies can cause sickness in humans that exacerbates the issues of poverty across the globe. In addition, to humans becoming sick, “Mass mortalities of wildlife have been attributed to cyanobacterial blooms (Dodds et al., 2008). These deaths can be avoided if care is taken in how humans affect the biogeochemical cycles on this planet. Together, all of the impacts mentioned that include losses of aesthetics and use, losses of biodiversity, and decreasing water quality cost large amounts of money to human populations every year. As Dodd’s et al. estimated, just in fresh water ecosystems the annual costs of eutrophication totals more than 2.2 billion dollars annually(Dodd’s et al.2008), and this is a conservative estimate. If the costs associated with salt water ecosystems were added to the costs estimated in fresh water habitats, this number would be much higher. Overall, the issue of eutrophication has massive impacts across many scales and represents a key issue that

Eutrophication, though it is a complex problem, has prompted people to take steps to decrease the flow of nutrients into the environment through the implementation of better waste water treatment, the education of