Human impact on nitrogen cycle , Biology

Assignment Help:

Human Impact on Nitrogen Cycle

Human activities are profoundly affecting the cycling of nitrogen in nature. Over 30 x 106 metric tons/yr. of N2 is fixed in the commercial production of fertilisers, an amount almost equal to that fixed biologically. The use of N2 fertilisers affect the distribution of N2 on earth. Much of the nitrogen in the harvested crops becomes animal and human waste in sewage waters and eventually enters the aquatic ecosystem through runoff and leaching. Nitrogenous compounds leached into the groundwater may be abundant in irrigation and drinking water where they can cause serious health hazards. Nitrogenous compounds entering the lakes have fertilising effect resulting in algal blooms and promote cultural eutrophication.

Excessive growth of phytoplankton in eutrophic lakes produces huge quantities of biomass and finally collapse due to nutrient exhaustion. The dead organisms are consumed by detrivores which use up the oxygen supply. This problem of cultural eutrophication is, however, more severe in the case of phosphorus additions rather than nitrogen. When fossil fuels are burned we add nitrogenous compounds to the air. Large quantities of nitrogen oxide (NO) are released from vehicles and most of the NU is converted to NO2 by combining with ozone (O3) in the atmosphere. NO2 is a toxic gas for 6umans and a cause of smog. It combines with water to form nitric acid, HNO3, which forms 30% of the strong acids in the acid rain.


Related Discussions:- Human impact on nitrogen cycle

What is meant by suction force of the plant cell, What is meant by suction ...

What is meant by suction force of the plant cell? Does the suction force facilitate or make difficult the entrance of water into the cell? As the vacuolar solution is hypertoni

Describe systolic sounds in heart dieases, Describe Systolic Sounds in hear...

Describe Systolic Sounds in heart dieases? Early Systolic Sounds: Aortic or pulmonary ejection sounds are the most common early systolic sounds. These are high frequency soun

Explain about the water-soluble vitamin - riboflavin, Explain about the w...

Explain about the water-soluble vitamin - Riboflavin? Riboflavin (vitamin B 2 ), a water-soluble vitamin, was discovered in milk as a pigment possessing a yellow green fluore

History of evolution, History of evolution? Evolution is usually define...

History of evolution? Evolution is usually defined as "change over time." In spite of the incredible diversity of life found on Earth, many fundamental characteristics are shar

Name some drugs to prvent tuberculosis, Name some Drugs to prvent tuberculo...

Name some Drugs to prvent tuberculosis Pyrazinamide can cause morbilliform rash, arthralgias and asymptomatic hyperuricemia, and blocks the hypouricemic action of allopurinol (

What is endocytosis, Which of the following is true for endocytosis? A....

Which of the following is true for endocytosis? A. During endocytosis of GLUT4 transporters in fat cells, there is removal of GLUT4 transporters from plasma membranes. B. Du

Explain elastic fibers would not wrinkle, As we age, our skin wrinkles due ...

As we age, our skin wrinkles due to change in collagen and elastic fibers in the dermis and a decrease in their production. Explain why topical application of collagen and elastic

Exstrophy of the bladder, Exstrophy of the Bladder This is the most c...

Exstrophy of the Bladder This is the most common major congenital defect of lower urinary and genital tract. This is found more frequently in males than in females. Exstr

Reflex action, REFLE X ACTION - Marshel Hall discovered reflex ac...

REFLE X ACTION - Marshel Hall discovered reflex action. Best & Taylor defined it. Reflex action is functional unit of CNS. It is sudden, immediate involuntary acti

Invertebrates, describe the phylums of invertebrates?

describe the phylums of invertebrates?

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd