Increasing population sizes lead to increasing demand for food. Farmers use synthetic fertilizers to add necessary nutrients to the soil so crops can grow. What is the ultimate consequence of this fertilizer use?(1 point)
Responses
deoxygenated water bodies
deoxygenated water bodies
death of aquatic organisms
death of aquatic organisms
algal blooms grow rapidly
algal blooms grow rapidly
fertilizer runs off with rainwater
deoxygenated water bodies
The ultimate consequence of fertilizer use is the runoff of fertilizer with rainwater.
The ultimate consequence of fertilizer use is that the fertilizer runs off with rainwater.
To understand why this is the case, let's break it down step by step:
1. Farmers use synthetic fertilizers to add necessary nutrients to the soil so crops can grow. These synthetic fertilizers typically contain nitrogen and phosphorus, which are essential for plant growth.
2. When it rains, water washes over the land, including the areas where fertilizers have been applied. This water runoff carries the fertilizers with it and moves into nearby water bodies such as lakes, rivers, and streams.
3. The influx of fertilizers into water bodies can have several negative consequences. One of these consequences is the rapid growth of algal blooms. The excess nutrients in the water, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, act as "food" for algae, leading to their rapid reproduction and expansion.
4. Algal blooms can have detrimental effects on aquatic ecosystems. As the algae multiply, they block sunlight from reaching other plants and organisms in the water, causing them to die due to a lack of photosynthesis. When these plants and organisms decompose, bacteria break them down and consume oxygen from the water, leading to deoxygenation.
5. Deoxygenated water bodies result in the death of aquatic organisms. Fish and other organisms that rely on dissolved oxygen in the water are unable to survive in areas with low oxygen levels, and their populations may decline or even collapse.
So, the ultimate consequence of fertilizer use is that it can lead to the fertilizers running off with rainwater into water bodies, contributing to the growth of algal blooms, deoxygenation of the water, and the death of aquatic organisms.