What Does This Mean?
What we extract from the earth's crust (lithosphere) should not exceed the environments capacity to absorb those materials and return them to the lithosphere. This principle deals directly with materials and elements that we mine and extract from the earth, and states that we should not remove these, which exposes them to the environment, faster than the environment can encapsulate them back into the earth. The mining of metals and rock, along with the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, releases a wide range of substances that the biosphere is not equipped to absorb and recapture. These materials and their byproducts like, lead, mercury, organophosphates, carbon dioxide, and ozone will build up in the environment to increasingly damaging levels, unless we limit our extraction to a level consistent with the earth's ability to reabsorb them. This principle follows the first two laws of thermodynamics which state that; 1. Nothing Disappears, and 2. Everything Spreads. This means that what we take up from the earth will never truly go away, and we will never be able to contain them fully.
What we extract from the earth's crust (lithosphere) should not exceed the environments capacity to absorb those materials and return them to the lithosphere. This principle deals directly with materials and elements that we mine and extract from the earth, and states that we should not remove these, which exposes them to the environment, faster than the environment can encapsulate them back into the earth. The mining of metals and rock, along with the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, releases a wide range of substances that the biosphere is not equipped to absorb and recapture. These materials and their byproducts like, lead, mercury, organophosphates, carbon dioxide, and ozone will build up in the environment to increasingly damaging levels, unless we limit our extraction to a level consistent with the earth's ability to reabsorb them. This principle follows the first two laws of thermodynamics which state that; 1. Nothing Disappears, and 2. Everything Spreads. This means that what we take up from the earth will never truly go away, and we will never be able to contain them fully.
How Does This Effect Me?
We live in the age of fossil fuels and resource extraction. We are stripping the earth's crust of materials at an ever increasing rate, and all of these materials (and byproducts from the treatment processes) have to go somewhere. The only place for them to go is out into the environment which provides us so many resources and services. Once released, chemicals and heavy metals leech into ground water, fall from the sky as acid rain, breakdown the ozone layer, or blanket the earth in a suffocating haze. While in the environment they are absorbed directly by plants and animals, causing birth defects, feeble immune systems, cancer, and developmental issues. Those elements that aren't directly absorbed often change the environment by increasing the acidity in our oceans, the temperature of our atmosphere, or reducing the atmospheres ability to reflect UV radiation. All of which cause ecosystem disruptions that can lead to large extinction events. We must remember that often times the absorbing animals are human, and that the environment that is being altered by these chemicals is the only one we know of that is capable of supporting human life.
We live in the age of fossil fuels and resource extraction. We are stripping the earth's crust of materials at an ever increasing rate, and all of these materials (and byproducts from the treatment processes) have to go somewhere. The only place for them to go is out into the environment which provides us so many resources and services. Once released, chemicals and heavy metals leech into ground water, fall from the sky as acid rain, breakdown the ozone layer, or blanket the earth in a suffocating haze. While in the environment they are absorbed directly by plants and animals, causing birth defects, feeble immune systems, cancer, and developmental issues. Those elements that aren't directly absorbed often change the environment by increasing the acidity in our oceans, the temperature of our atmosphere, or reducing the atmospheres ability to reflect UV radiation. All of which cause ecosystem disruptions that can lead to large extinction events. We must remember that often times the absorbing animals are human, and that the environment that is being altered by these chemicals is the only one we know of that is capable of supporting human life.
Issues
Synthetic Fertilizers-
As gardeners we should be aware that the synthetic fertilizers we use on our lawns and in our gardens are leading to a build up of potentially damaging elements from the earth's crust in the surrounding environment. Since the early 1900s scientists have been creating inorganic synthetic fertilizers that use natural gas from the earth's crust and ammonia as the feedstock to create easily fixable nitrogen based fertilizers through the Haber-Bosch Process. These synthetic fertilizers were attractive to farmers because they could be easily applied and are faster acting than organic fertilizers that require natural processes to break down the organic matter into usable elements. Plants also require phosphates, and these are often created synthetically by mining phosphate rock and breaking it down with acid. Most of the issues associated with synthetic fertilizer use stem from over application and the resulting run off that pollutes rivers and ground water tables. Many rivers around the world have higher than normal nitrate levels, which cause algal blooms that deplete the surrounding water of oxygen, killing any animals present in the water. Synthetic fertilizer use is also causing soil acidification, contamination with impurities, uses lots of energy (usually derived from more fossil fuels), and scarily it creates dependence of these synthetic fertilizers because in high concentrations they kill the soil microbes that usually allow organic materials to break down.
As gardeners we should be aware that the synthetic fertilizers we use on our lawns and in our gardens are leading to a build up of potentially damaging elements from the earth's crust in the surrounding environment. Since the early 1900s scientists have been creating inorganic synthetic fertilizers that use natural gas from the earth's crust and ammonia as the feedstock to create easily fixable nitrogen based fertilizers through the Haber-Bosch Process. These synthetic fertilizers were attractive to farmers because they could be easily applied and are faster acting than organic fertilizers that require natural processes to break down the organic matter into usable elements. Plants also require phosphates, and these are often created synthetically by mining phosphate rock and breaking it down with acid. Most of the issues associated with synthetic fertilizer use stem from over application and the resulting run off that pollutes rivers and ground water tables. Many rivers around the world have higher than normal nitrate levels, which cause algal blooms that deplete the surrounding water of oxygen, killing any animals present in the water. Synthetic fertilizer use is also causing soil acidification, contamination with impurities, uses lots of energy (usually derived from more fossil fuels), and scarily it creates dependence of these synthetic fertilizers because in high concentrations they kill the soil microbes that usually allow organic materials to break down.
Energy and Transportation-
Arguably the greatest impediment to our adoption of principle 1 is our use of fossil fuels for energy production and transportation. Our reliance on fossil fuels for energy means that we must continuously mine hydrocarbons from the earth's crust and burn them, which converts them into harmful gases that build up in our atmosphere. As gardeners we must be cognizant of our energy use at home and the amount of energy we use to transport our goods to market or bring our resources into the garden.
Arguably the greatest impediment to our adoption of principle 1 is our use of fossil fuels for energy production and transportation. Our reliance on fossil fuels for energy means that we must continuously mine hydrocarbons from the earth's crust and burn them, which converts them into harmful gases that build up in our atmosphere. As gardeners we must be cognizant of our energy use at home and the amount of energy we use to transport our goods to market or bring our resources into the garden.