Fertilizer Fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is applied to soils or to plant tissues to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. Many sources of fertilizer exist, both natural and industrially produced. Fertilizers enhance the growth of plants. This goal is met in two ways, the traditional one being additives that provide nutrients. The second mode by which some fertilizers act is to enhance the effectiveness of the soil by modifying its water retention and aeration.
Baltic Sea hypoxia lack of oxygen (anoxia) kills bottom-living organisms and creates dead zones. The rapid increase in hypoxia in coastal areas around the world is due to the excessive inputs of plant nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus by human activities. The sources of these nutrients include agriculture, sewage, and atmospheric deposition of nitrogen containing compounds from the burning of fossil fuels. The nutrients stimulate the growth of algae causing problems with eutrophication. The algae sink to the bottom and use the oxygen when they decompose. If mixing of the bottom waters is slow, such that oxygen stocks are not renewed, hypoxia