It's not your fault

Nutrient cycles are a beautiful thing. That is, when they work well. If there’s a malfunctioning part in the system, though, it doesn’t just disrupt the cycle at that point in time, but perpetuates and causes the cycle to fall apart.

The water cycle in the Adirondacks works great in some areas, but in others it's a mess. We’ve talked about how much acid rain is a problem in the Adirondacks, and in this era of pollution and climate change, we tend to attribute the problem to human involvement. And we’ve certainly done much to cause acid rain but have also helped to mitigate the problem by cutting back on gas emissions (sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides). But the reading on soil science mentioned an important thing to consider, which is that the environment isn’t really doing its part to help either. Through no fault of its own, the Adirondacks have a glaring lack of limestone or any other acid-neutralizing agent. This is the biggest breakdown in the water cycle. Once water is contaminated by VOCs (volatile organic compounds), there are no natural mechanisms to return the water to a balanced pH. Acid rain depletes any remaining base reserves, leaches mercury into the water, stunts tree growth, and then affects ecosystems downstream. That’s why the EPA is predicting that by 2040, 43% of the 2,800 lakes and ponds in the ADKs will have a pH below 5.0, which can be fatal to many common plant and animal species.

For once, the defects of the environment aren’t completely our fault. But that doesn’t mean we’re free of blame. For more info on acid rain and what steps you can take to help reduce it, take a look at: http://www.adkmuseum.org/acidrain/index.shtml.