What is eutrophication and what has its effect been on the environment?

While it can occur naturally, the majority of the time it is caused by industrial run-off from fertilizer residues and other sources that enter lakes or ponds and raise the water's mineral content, which in turn encourages the rapid growth and eventual death of algae and other aquatic plants (a phenomenon known as an algal bloom). This phenomenon is undesirable because too much algae on the water's surface prevents light from penetrating and reaching the underwater vegetation, and when the algae die, they require a lot of oxygen to decay, which lowers the dissolved oxygen in the aquatic ecosystem.

Eutrophication is the process by which a body of water becomes overly enriched with nutrients, typically nitrogen and phosphorus, leading to excessive growth of algae and other aquatic plants. This overgrowth can result in a variety of negative effects on the environment, including decreased oxygen levels in the water, which can lead to fish kills and other forms of aquatic life die-offs. Additionally, the accumulation of algal blooms can block sunlight from reaching deeper parts of the water, hindering the growth of submerged plants and disrupting the aquatic ecosystem. Furthermore, when the algae die and decompose, it can further deplete oxygen levels in the water, exacerbating the problem and creating "dead zones" where marine life cannot survive. Overall, eutrophication can severely degrade water quality, disrupt ecological balance, and harm biodiversity in affected aquatic environments.