Yale 360 Phosphorus Article   Please read this article for your "Peak Phosphorus" assignment.

Dear Juniors- As we learn about anthropogenic eutrophication, it is really important that we understand the driving forces behind this pollution and the sources of the nutrients that are accumulating in the Chesapeake Bay.  Ultimately it is everyday human activities that are causing the problem of nutrient pollution, things like: eating, farming, driving cars, growing a garden or lawn, and even going to the bathroom.  This is why this problem is so widespread and so insidious, you have to eat, you have to move, to have to live!  Phosphorous and nitrogen are part of our lives.  Personally, I think the solution is to live more carefully and more aware of what we are doing and how we are doing it, so that we make as small an impact as possible.  For example, gardening with very limited inputs of fertilizer, or using cover crops to fix nitrogen, not a product from a bag.  Trying to purchase products that are phosphate free, or choosing organic products that were hopefully made fertile with compost and not 10-10-10.  Other things we can do as a society, is to demand clean water technologies, to demand that industry not dump waste into our rivers and bay, and to push for cleaner industry and cars.  Yes, these things cost more money, but in the end, isn't a clean, healthy environment worth it?