[April Free Report] The Effects of CAFOs in the USby Jayden Kim | 01-05-2023 04:54 |
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 In the US, the agricultural industry is still a major part of the economy of the mid west and the south. The US do also significantly rely on their agricultural industry for trade and for domestic consumption as well. However, problems have risen due to some of these agricultural plants. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) are a huge problem to the US ecosystems today. CAFOs dispose a lot of their waste into the soil and many times into waterways, causing huge amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus to enter into the waterways, leading to algal blooms. These algal blooms can consume immense amounts of oxygen when dying, leading to poor oxygen levels in waterways. The low oxygen levels can cause death to multiple organisms and waterlife if they are not able to adapt to the changes of oxygen levels. According to the EPA, CAFOS costs nearly 925 million dollars annually to operate, which is a huge amount of money. CAFOs however not only effect the environment, it can also affect our health. Fish and other life that were contaminated by these chemicals and hormones from the CAFO can cause problems to humans if they do get in contact with it either through touching it or consuming it. According to the cdc, CAFOs can cause respiratory issues, nausea, chest tightness, and more. CAFOs also produce immense amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, also causing problems in our atmosphere as it lead to global warming. The issue with CAFOs must be solved in order to prevent the contamination of both the ocean and water life and even the waters. Contamination water with nitrogen and phosphorus may not be healthy and clean enough for others to use for other reasons. Florida for example, lost hundreds and millions of dollars due to the algal bloom that was created due to a agricultural plant. Waters were now unable to be used, the tourism and restaurant industry lost billions of dollars due to prohibited oceans and contaminated food. If the US wants to stop these events from occurring again, they must find a solution to the issue. Either it may be preventing CAFOs from being able to dispose whenever or wherever they want, utilizing fines or regulations to stop these CAFOs from disposing. Without any solutions, the US will become more and more contaminated and less and less healthy and clean. Citation: 1. https://www.epa.gov/npdes/animal-feeding-operations-afos 2. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/docs/understanding_cafos_nalboh.pdf 3.https://acespace.org/2021/08/06/why-are-cafos-bad-for-the-environment/#:~:text=CAFOs%20produce%20large%20amounts%20of,and%20the%20livestock's%20digestive%20processes. 4.https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/cafo_ch10.pdf Photo credits: 1.https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2016/04/30/four-oregon-dairies-seeking-expand/83352006/
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