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Once in the environment these pollutants can have both direct effects in surrounding ecosystems, i.e. killing local wildlife or contaminating drinking water, and downstream effects such as dead zones caused by agricultural runoff is concentrated in large water bodies.
The environmental impact of agriculture is the effect that different farming practices have on the ecosystems around them, and how those effects can be traced back to those practices. [1] The environmental impact of agriculture varies widely based on practices employed by farmers and by the scale of practice.
Much agricultural pollution is exacerbated by surface runoff, leading to a number of down stream impacts, including nutrient pollution that causes eutrophication. In addition to causing water erosion and pollution, surface runoff in urban areas is a primary cause of urban flooding , which can result in property damage, damp and mold in ...
Pesticide impacts on aquatic systems are often studied using a hydrology transport model to study movement and fate of chemicals in rivers and streams. As early as the 1970s quantitative analysis of pesticide runoff was conducted to predict amounts of pesticide that would reach surface waters. [60]
A spectrum of opinion exists across agricultural and environmental circles over how to address nutrient runoff — and how much of a role the government should have in moving the needle.
Nonpoint sources are the most significant single source of water pollution in the United States, accounting for almost half of all water pollution, [1] and agricultural runoff is the single largest source of nonpoint source water pollution. [2] This water pollution has a number of detrimental effects on human health and the environment.
Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients.It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters (lakes, rivers and coastal waters), in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algal growth. [1]
Since then, sewage and agriculture have emerged as the dominant phosphate sources. [12] The main sources of nitrogen pollution are from agricultural runoff containing fertilizers and animal wastes, from sewage, and from atmospheric deposition of nitrogen originating from combustion or animal waste. [13]