Road Salt is Killing Aquatic Life

Road salt help people stay safe during winter storms, but for aquatic ecosystem this salt is extremely harmful and can be fatal to some aquatic animals. Many lakes, marshes, and streams that reside alongside of road and highways are exposed to salt containing chlorine and sodium. These chemicals change the way the water mixes which forms salty pockets near the bottom of the body of water, creating biological dead zones. At low concentrations it is mostly harmless, but as more salt mixes with the water it has killed many plankton and fish. Some communities in North America are looking for safer alternatives such as, beet wastewater, cheese brine, pickle juice, and potato juice. Although nothing is 100% effective or completely solving the problem, scientists still work to create a safe solution for both people and the aquatic life.



https://www.popsci.com/road-salt-bad-for-environment/

Comments

  1. chrheaOctober 6, 2019 at 6:43 PM

    Response/discussion?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 10, 2019 at 9:49 AM

    This is a very interesting article because I feel like many people don't understand the harmful effects road salt has on aquatic animals. The chemicals that the salt contains are going into the oceans and are killing aquatic life therefore communities are trying to come up with safer alternatives which I feel like they need to so the fish population doesn't decrease.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dual-fuel vehicles

A recent study shows that dual- fuel vehicles are benefiting the population but, turns out they are costing the environment. While substituting gasoline for ethanol gases, it causes an increase of ultra fine particle matter, with a 30% increase of atmospheric concentration. The problem is that they are less then 50 nanometers in diameter. The nano particles are also not track or regulated by the environmental agencies. We inhale these gases everyday, inhaling ethanol. The most practical way to reduce greenhouse gases is using electric, hybrid and biofuel care.   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170828124546.htm
Read more

Acid Zone in Chesapeake Bay Found

     According to the University of Delaware, the Chesapeake Bay is becoming acidic as it has gone to 7.4 pH from an average of 8.2. The oxidation of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide may be the factor that is leading to the higher acidity levels in coastal oceans, but it can eventually lead to more of open oceans. Naturally the waters of the Chesapeake Bay have a regulatory system that holds back the increase of acidity levels in the area, and this works as the dissolving of living shells, non-living aragonite, and calcite minerals. Though nature has a path to keep the waters in the Chesapeake Bay, humans should take more care of our Earth as we have a role in polluting the water and rising the acidity levels in coastal oceans. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170828093737.htm
Read more