Visualizing Environmental Science: Chapter Analysis

Imagine an ancient guru preaching about the energy flow of everything in the universe and how it is all connected. The biogeochemical cycles discussed in chapter 5 in Visualizing Environmental Science by Berg and Hager can be thought of a scientific explanation for a philosophical idea. The decision to write about this topic stemmed from recognizing the potential ideas that could flower from studying how the cycles work and how they relate to each other. When discussing things like pollution, more relevant and realistic solutions may be drawn if each of these cycles was more understood. Take the hydrologic cycle, for example, and throw in an area of heavy pollution and we are bound to get a reaction a lot like throwing tennis balls in a dryer. While you might have harmless intentions, it makes a lot of noise and causes a lot of damage. The biogeochemical cycles consist of the carbon, hydrologic, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus cycles. Carbon is important to all living organisms and each organism reacts to it differently. Some organisms need carbon to survive while others produce carbon for others. On page 107 of the textbook, they talk about different options the planet has to create carbon.
Water and its corresponding cycle is probably the most well-known cycle of the five. It is general knowledge that rain clouds produce a natural filtration system of water from oceans. The rain falls into rivers, lakes, land and what is not removed or needed is recycled back into our oceans. On page 109 of Visualizing Environmental Science the authors Hager and Berg discuss and diagram the nitrogen cycle. They talk about how there is seemingly no shortage of nitrogen in the atmosphere, how important it is to proteins and nucleic acids, and cynobacteria’s role in the production line. According to the text, the sulfur cycle is the least known and least studied of the biogeochemical cycles. Sulfur may enter the atmosphere by both land and ocean modalities and only a small portion of sulfur is in living organisms, however it is an important player in the formation of proteins of both plants and animals. Bacteria are the organisms that stand to gain the most and they are the main “drive” of the sulfur cycle. The phosphorus cycle is the last cycle discussed in this section of chapter 6 in the textbook. It is unlike the previous cycles because it is not present in the atmosphere. This cycle moves from step to step by land and ocean only. When asked about the biogeochemical cycles, most responses were “What is a biogeochemical cycle?” Once I explained briefly, I asked what level of importance it has on them.
“Well, the cycles are life and I would say life is pretty important to me,” said Connor Carpenter. The rest of the interviewees responded with a similar answer once they understood what it meant. However, even the most intellectual person in my little sample of society needed further explanation and description of the cycles before he could respond with an educated answer, making me realize that the biogeochemical cycles are not important nor on the minds of the general public. In addition, I believe the group of individuals I sought out to interview was diverse enough to represent our entire
community. As stated previously, the topic is very important to me especially considering solutions as well as reasons for pollution. Understanding the natural flow of the matter within ecosystems coincides with understanding where the cycles can become more efficient as well as recognizing areas where production can be easily blocked. In addition, I mean “natural” when talking about natural matter cycles to include human needs and do not mean to exclude us from this term. Humans are part of nature and it is a necessity to consider the resistance we have to any major change when studying the possibility of improvements. The biogeochemical cycles span six pages of the textbook (from 106-112) and include diagrams of each. The diagrams provide a visual way to help understand and an accurate map of different types of water, land, and atmosphere all in the same picture to help understand how they work. The biogeochemical cycles are always present in society and always will be. They are life and how it is made possible and that is something that will always be a topic on everybody’s minds, subconsciously. It is not every day that the average person considers why they are alive at any given moment and for that reason, I do not think the life cycles of matter within our atmosphere, water, and land are ever at the front of the mind. As always when considering environmental topics, human pollution must also be purposed as an issue worth discussing. I think humans are effecting the cycles by adding more chemicals in steps of the cycle where they would not normally be. While viewing the diagrams, it is easy to see that an added ingredient anywhere in the mixture will cause an uneven balance and eventually disrupt each individual cycle. According to the text, the sulfur cycle is still not fully understood or documented. Research still continues and scientists are learning more about sulfur and how it reacts within our ecosystems. A majority of the reason the sulfur cycle has not been researched and broken down as much as the other cycles is because it is mostly only relevant to bacteria. Human nature is to be selfish. The matter that is most relevant to humans is focused on sooner than things that have little or no impact on us. Once again, I believe that all parts of the cycles should be carefully studied if we want to purpose solutions to our environmental problems. The 5 biogeochemical cycles describe how all matter interacts within different ecosystems. Learning about how they work and why they are necessary will help the general public become more ecological conscious of the role they play within the cycles. The first step in any process is to first figure out exactly what needs to be done and I think these cycles provide a blueprint and a starting point to make some major changes.