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This was where I immediately started thinking. Is this something that cyclical? The article is long on effect and very short on causes. "Reducing greenhouse ga

This was where I immediately started thinking. Is this something that cyclical? The article is long on effect and very short on causes. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient runoff and organic carbon inputs (for example, raw sewage loading) would slow or potentially reverse deoxygenation," they write. And what exactly is "raw sewage loading" they talk about as a way to reverse this? I did some quick googling and couldn't find anything about what exactly it is.

jtbayly 2y ago
“raw sewage loading” is, I believe, an example of an organic carbon input that should be reduced. In other words, stop letting raw sewage out into rivers. We’ve been working on that for decades.
- cduzz 2y ago
  I wonder if "raw sewage loading" includes traditional septic systems where there's just a leach field for ... raw sewage... There are certainly technologies these days that allow you to filter the effluent to make it less harmful to the environment. https://www.nutter.com/trending-newsroom-publications-massdep-new-septic-regulations https://www.nutter.com/trending-newsroom-publications-massde...
  - rolph 2y ago
    a leach field aproximates wetland, and with some revisioning, can be made to emulate wetland, and will often facilitate succession to actual wetland.
_heimdall 2y ago
I read that as a clarification of organic carbon inputs that could be reduced. I don't know the specific phrase "raw sewage loading," but in context I assume its something to do with sewage waste being released into rivers and oceans.
ospray 2y ago
This article seems to be based on quite a technical paper but my reading is hot water holds less oxygen so global warming is a factor. Also excess organic matter from farming is causing oxygen loss as it decomposes to CO2 and a few other processes.
dgacmu 2y ago
It's literally what it sounds like: dumping untreated sewage into waterways and oceans. A big problem in all of these is adding nitrogen and phosphorus to the water, which facilitates algae growth, which consumes a lot of the available oxygen: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_pollution/010nutrients.html https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_pollution/0... Urine and feces are great sources of nutrients - good if you extract them, sterilize, and use responsibly on land, not good if you dump directly into water.
- rolph 2y ago
  there is a natural phenomenon known as wetland. these things reclaim, and redistributex raw materials that are like rocket fuel for microbes. these wetlands are inconvienient for [growth] as they take up a lot of area, andget in the way of housing developments, parking lots, and sewage treatment plants. the solution is attempted dilution,thus: >>It's literally what it sounds like: dumping untreated sewage into waterways and oceans.<<
  - corinroyal 2y ago
    [flagged]
- euroderf 2y ago
  Data point: IIRC the Great Lakes were getting choked on algae until they banned phosphates in detergents. And of course there is always fertilizer runoff.
LeifCarrotson 2y ago
Reducing carbon inputs would slow or reverse this. Increasing sewage runoff would make the problem worse. Raw sewage contamination is a huge problem: https://environmentamerica.org/center/resources/safe-for-swimming/ https://environmentamerica.org/center/resources/safe-for-swi... Don't go swimming too soon after it rains if you want to be safe from E. coli. Overdevelopment, underfunded utilities, and factory farms put runoff at a level that's barely tolerable when it's dry, and when there's excess surface water, they overflow in unsanitary ways that result in nutrient blooms and oxygen depletion.

jtbayly 2y ago

“raw sewage loading” is, I believe, an example of an organic carbon input that should be reduced. In other words, stop letting raw sewage out into rivers. We’ve been working on that for decades.

cduzz 2y ago
I wonder if "raw sewage loading" includes traditional septic systems where there's just a leach field for ... raw sewage... There are certainly technologies these days that allow you to filter the effluent to make it less harmful to the environment. https://www.nutter.com/trending-newsroom-publications-massdep-new-septic-regulations https://www.nutter.com/trending-newsroom-publications-massde...
- rolph 2y ago
  a leach field aproximates wetland, and with some revisioning, can be made to emulate wetland, and will often facilitate succession to actual wetland.

_heimdall 2y ago

I read that as a clarification of organic carbon inputs that could be reduced. I don't know the specific phrase "raw sewage loading," but in context I assume its something to do with sewage waste being released into rivers and oceans.

ospray 2y ago

This article seems to be based on quite a technical paper but my reading is hot water holds less oxygen so global warming is a factor. Also excess organic matter from farming is causing oxygen loss as it decomposes to CO2 and a few other processes.

dgacmu 2y ago

It's literally what it sounds like: dumping untreated sewage into waterways and oceans. A big problem in all of these is adding nitrogen and phosphorus to the water, which facilitates algae growth, which consumes a lot of the available oxygen: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_pollution/010nutrients.html https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_pollution/0... Urine and feces are great sources of nutrients - good if you extract them, sterilize, and use responsibly on land, not good if you dump directly into water.

rolph 2y ago
there is a natural phenomenon known as wetland. these things reclaim, and redistributex raw materials that are like rocket fuel for microbes. these wetlands are inconvienient for [growth] as they take up a lot of area, andget in the way of housing developments, parking lots, and sewage treatment plants. the solution is attempted dilution,thus: >>It's literally what it sounds like: dumping untreated sewage into waterways and oceans.<<
- corinroyal 2y ago
  [flagged]
euroderf 2y ago
Data point: IIRC the Great Lakes were getting choked on algae until they banned phosphates in detergents. And of course there is always fertilizer runoff.

LeifCarrotson 2y ago

Reducing carbon inputs would slow or reverse this. Increasing sewage runoff would make the problem worse. Raw sewage contamination is a huge problem: https://environmentamerica.org/center/resources/safe-for-swimming/ https://environmentamerica.org/center/resources/safe-for-swi... Don't go swimming too soon after it rains if you want to be safe from E. coli. Overdevelopment, underfunded utilities, and factory farms put runoff at a level that's barely tolerable when it's dry, and when there's excess surface water, they overflow in unsanitary ways that result in nutrient blooms and oxygen depletion.