Why are nutrients bad for the Bay? Aren’t things that have nutrients supposed to be good?
When people talk about nutrients in the Chesapeake Bay, they are usually talking about nitrogen and phosphorus. These are essential things that plants need to grow. Phosphorus helps plants convert sunlight into the energy needed to make its own food. It helps cells grow and reproduce. Nitrogen helps plants and animals make more body tissue. You can see that nitrogen and phosphorus are good. But when there is too much of it, it makes algae grow out of control. Some algae are necessary in the Bay, because it feeds many of the creatures that live there. But too much algae actually does harm. It robs other plants of sunlight and robs the animals of oxygen.
