The Earth's Sulfur Cycle And Its Impact

The Sulfur Cycle
Introduction
The cycle I have chosen to write on is the Sulfur cycle. I will explain what Sulfur is, how the sulfur cycle works, the impacts humans make on the cycle, and how to reduce the impact. In addition to that, I will attempt to explain how difficult it is for humans to balance personal choice with environmental concerns, and why we should care about things such as the sulfur cycle.
The Sulfur Cycle
Sulfur is the tenth most common mineral in the universe. It is described as “brittle, yellow, tasteless, and odorless non-metallic element” (The Environmental Literacy Council., 2015). It is important for both the Earth’s climate and for the health of many ecosystems. Sulfur is one of the micronutrients required by plants. Plants obtain sulfur either through the atmosphere or the ground (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica., 2014). Most of the Earth’s sulfur can be found in rocks or soil. Sulfur is also one of the amino acids found in protein, which is necessary for the health of a living organism

The main way humans release Sulphur into the atmosphere is via the use of fossil fuels and processing of metal. “One-third of all sulfur that reaches the atmosphere—including 90% of sulfur dioxide—stems from human activities” (The Environmental Literacy Council., 2015). Sulphur reacts with other chemicals in the atmosphere to produce small particles of sulfur salt, which comes back down to earth in the form of acid rain. The biggest effect acid rain has on the Earth is aquatic. Acid rain gets into lakes, rivers, and other bodies of waters, making them acidic (National Geographic., n.d.). The acidity can cause them to absorb larger amounts of aluminum, and this combination “makes waters toxic to crayfish, clams, fish, and other aquatic animals” (National Geographic., n.d.). This has a negative impact on the food chain, as all ecosystems are