The Salt We as Humans Use Are Threatening Fresh Water Supplies and Harming Our Health

Salt occurs naturally everywhere. But it’s also one of the most useful –and ubiquitous elements –in human society. It’s in our food –which also means it’s in our waste. It’s in our construction materials and fertilizers, and we dump tons of it on roads to keep them from icing over in winter. Well, now all that salt is poisoning the world’s freshwater supplies. University of Maryland professor Sujay Kaushal says the problem is verging on a global crisis. And that we need to be tackling it on the same scale that we address air pollution or carbon emissions. Kaushal is a professor of Earth System Science and one of the most prolific researchers on this issue.