Word: nutrient
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...noticed. But humans are also affected when they eat fish contaminated by PCBs; the chemicals can cause cancer and disrupt the functioning of hormones in the body. Other forms of pollution, like nitrate and phosphate runoff from farms, kill the ecosystem by starving fish. These nutrient pollutants are found in fertilizer and in sewage, and they cause excessive growth of aquatic plants when they hit the water. Algae, during their natural course of life, die and sink to the bottom, where they are devoured by bacteria, which use oxygen. Too many algae deprive fish of oxygen...
...danger in giving kids their Flintstone vitamins. Her concern is that too many people are taking huge doses without much evidence that they will do any good and without considering the harm they might cause. "If you have reason to believe that you are shortchanged on a single nutrient, you have to know what the risks are," she says. "That may require a consultation with a professional nutritionist, not a conversation with your neighbor, a chiropractor or a health-food-store employee." Now if only common sense came in a pill...
Scientists say it is too soon to know why these Pfiesteria became toxic, but most suspect "nutrient loading," that is, an excess of nutrition pouring into the waters in which the bacteria live. The nutrients could come from many sources, including sewage- treatment plants. But in an area that is home to about 600 million chickens (outnumbering humans about 500 to 1), poultry is the leading suspect. Chicken manure is commonly used as fertilizer on farmlands around the affected waterways. Environmentalists say when it runs off into the water, it brings excessive levels of nitrogen. They have called for restrictions...
...singled out. "I don't think it's been proved yet," says Ralph Smith, whose family operates seven chicken houses on the Eastern Shore. "They're pointing fingers our way, but it's probably a combination of things." The poultry industry has already reacted angrily to calls for mandatory nutrient-management legislation, and followers of state politics predict it will use its clout in the legislature to fight any new restrictions. "Poultry farmers are a small voting bloc, and many don't make a lot of money, but the poultry industry is very wealthy and has been very active...
...east to west, pushing water away from the South American coast, so that the ocean's surface is a couple of feet lower off Peru than it is off Indonesia. The difference, although seemingly small, has important consequences: to replace the water that the winds have swept away, cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths wells up, and so Peru's waters are loaded with fish. But when an El Nino gets started, the pattern shifts. The trade winds dwindle, and may even start blowing from the west. The upwelling off Peru stops, and anchovies and other fish move...