What’s the point of non-point?

Question: What does "non-point source pollution" mean? Answer: What’s the point of non-point? The point is clear once we realize we’re talking about pollution. Non-point source pollutants are water contaminants that don’t come from a pipe, well, construction site, or any other well-defined, specific source. They come from a diffuse source of contamination originating in …

What’s your favorite soil?

Question: What’s your favorite type of soil and why? Before getting too far into this question, I think it’s important to note that there are different ways to look at “type” of soil. We could, for example, view soils from the perspective of texture, and talk about sandy soils, silty soils, clay-rich soils, etc. At …

Are soil bacteria harmful?

Question: I understand that millions of bacteria live in soil. Are they harmful? What are they doing? Soil is rich in both the number and diversity of its microbial inhabitants. But most of the bacteria in soil can’t directly cause disease, as they don’t have the necessary biochemical abilities. How many microbes? It’s estimated that …