It's easy to think that more nutrients—the stuff life needs to grow and thrive—would foster more vibrant ecosystems. Yet nutrient pollution has in fact wrought havoc on marine systems, contributing to harmful algae blooms, worse water quality and oxygen-poor dead zones.
A new study shows nutrients can aggravate the already negative effects of climate change on corals to trigger mass coral bleaching. Coral reef environments are typically low in naturally occurring nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous compounds.
Excessive nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, have devastating effects on coastal marine ecosystems by causing algal blooms that deplete oxygen in the water, killing marine life. Such nutrients can enter the sea in wastewater or run-off from agricultural land.