The earth was hellishly polluted with salt: it began to threaten the environment

Salt for treating roads turned out to be the most dangerous

The Americans discovered a new anthropogenic pollution that people are threatening the Earth with: due to the excessive introduction of NaCl – that is, salt – into circulation for economic needs, the planet is rapidly “saltying”, which poses a significant threat both to itself and to its health and life. inhabitants.

Salt concentrations in major rivers have doubled since the mid-20th century. This was recently reported by ecologists from the University of Maryland in College Park (USA). Russian biogeographer, specialist in the field of nature conservation, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Arkady Tishkov explained why this happens.

Human activity doubles the load of salt in the air, water and soil. In the coming years, this may lead to a noticeable disruption of the natural balance.

American scientists have found that this happens due to the release into the environment of approximately the same volume of salts that enter there naturally from natural sources. Ecologists studied the problem for 10 years and realized that it involves the use of all kinds of fertilizers and road salt. They can be compared with the original mass of salt ions present in nature untouched by humans.

In rivers in the United States, for example, approximately 271 million tons of table salt have been identified, TASS reports. 70% of it is of natural origin, and 30% is anthropogenic. The main anthropogenic source is industrial salt (13.9%), which is used to clear roads of ice. In second place are fertilizers (6.7%), the salt of which first penetrates the soil and then enters rivers through groundwater.

The rapid increase in salinization has already led to the fact that the concentration of sodium and chlorine in large rivers has doubled compared to the 50-60s of the last century. Environmentalists say that it is time for national governments to develop standards and restrictions that normalize the flow of salts into the environment, otherwise a further increase in their concentration could lead to serious consequences for all life on Earth, including humans.

Comment by Corresponding Member of the RAS Arkady Tishkov:

– I agree with the conclusions of environmentalists from the United States. We already have soils that suffer from excess salts. For example, in Moscow, due to a combination of the effects of warming and land salinization, we now have steppe, saline soils that require specific vegetation for landscaping.

Salt is neutral when it lies in the layers of the earth. But as soon as it is put into circulation by humans, it begins to repeatedly influence soils and water, significantly changing their chemical composition. This may someday have a negative impact on changes in biota.