Human activities making Earth’s air, soil and freshwater 'saltier': Study

Humans are disrupting the natural salt cycle on a global scale and the influx of salt in streams and rivers is causing an existential threat according to an alarming study led by an Indianorigin researcherGeologic and hydrologic processes bring salts to Earthrsquos surface over time but human activities such as mining and land development are rapidly accelerating the natural salt cycleAgriculture construction water and road treatment and other industrial activities can also intensify salinisation which harms biodiversity and makes drinking water unsafe in extreme casesIf you think of the planet as a living organism when you accumulate so much salt it could affect the functioning of vital organs or ecosystemsrdquo said Geology professor Sujay Kaushal from the University of MarylandRemoving salt from water is energy intensive and expensive and the brine byproduct you end up with is saltier than ocean water and canrsquot be easily disposed of he addedIn the paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth amp Environment the team described these disturbances as an anthropogenic salt cycle establishing for the first time that humans affect the concentration and cycling of salt on a global interconnected scaleTwenty years ago all we had were case studies We could say surface waters were salty here in New York or in Baltimorersquos drinking water supply said coauthor Gene Likens an ecologist at the University of ConnecticutWe now show that itrsquos a cycle from the deep Earth to the atmosphere thatrsquos been significantly perturbed by human activitiesThe new study considered a variety of salt ions that are found underground and in surface water Salts are compounds with positively charged cations and negatively charged anions with some of the most abundant ones being calcium magnesium potassium and sulphate ionsWhen people think of salt they tend to think of sodium chloride but our work over the years has shown that wersquove disturbed other types of salts including ones related to limestone gypsum and calcium sulphate Kaushal saidWhen dislodged in higher doses these ions can cause environmental problems The study showed that humancaused salinisation affected approximately 25 billion acres of soil around the world an area about the size of the USSalt ions also increased in streams and rivers over the last 50 years coinciding with an increase in the global use and production of salts Salt has even infiltrated the airIn some regions lakes are drying up and sending plumes of saline dust into the atmosphere In areas that experience snow road salts can become aerosolised creating sodium and chloride particulate matterTheres the shortterm risk of injury which is serious and something we certainly need to think about but therersquos also the longterm risk of health issues associated with too much salt in our water Kaushal saidItrsquos about finding the right balanceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever