Now Nitrogen, making up 78% of Earth’s atmosphere, and a requirement for many agricultural crops is given the label of “dangerous”. I’m guessing Oxygen and the “dangerous oxidation” it causes will be next.
First they came for the CFC’s, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a user of aerosol deodorant.
Then they came for the Carbon Dioxide, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a denier.
Then they came for the Nitrogen, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a farmer.
Then they came for the Oxygen–and there was no one left breathing to speak for me.
From the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) home of the Schellnhuber
Dangerous nitrogen pollution could be halved
Ambitious mitigation efforts, however, could decrease the pollution by 50 percent. The analysis is the very first to quantify this.
“Nitrogen is an irreplaceable nutrient and a true life-saver as it helps agriculture to feed a growing world population – but it is unfortunately also a dangerous pollutant,” says Benjamin Bodirsky, lead-author of the study. In the different forms it can take through chemical reactions, it massively contributes to respirable dust, leads to the formation of aggressive ground-level ozone, and destabilizes water ecosystems. Damages in Europe alone have been estimated at around 1-4 percent of economic output, worth billions of Euro. About half of these nitrogen pollution damages are from agriculture. This is why the scientists ran extensive computer simulations to explore the effects of different mitigation measures.
Both farmers and consumers would have to participate in mitigation
“It became clear that without mitigation the global situation may markedly deteriorate as the global food demand grows,” says Bodirsky, who is also affiliated to the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Colombia (CIAT). “A package of mitigation actions can reverse this trend, yet the risk remains that nitrogen pollution still exceeds safe environmental thresholds.”
Only combined mitigation efforts both in food production and consumption could substantially reduce the risks, the study shows. Currently, every second ton of nitrogen put on the fields is not taken up by the crops but blown away by the wind, washed out by rain or decomposed by microorganisms. To reduce losses and prevent pollution, farmers can more carefully target fertilizer application to plants’ needs, using soil measurements. Moreover, they should aim at efficiently recycling animal dung to fertilize the plants. “Mitigation costs are currently many times lower than damage costs,” says co-author Alexander Popp.
“For consumers in developed countries, halving food waste, meat consumption and related feed use would not only benefit their health and their wallet,” Popp adds. “Both changes would also increase the overall resource efficiency of food production and reduce pollution.”
“Health effects of nitrogen pollution more important than climate effects”
“The nitrogen cycle is interwoven with the climate system in various ways,” Hermann Lotze-Campen points out, co-author of the study and co-chair of PIK’s research domain Climate Impacts and Vulnerabilities. Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, on the one hand is one of the major greenhouse gases. On the other hand, nitrogen containing aerosols scatter light and thereby cool the climate. And as fertilizing nutrient, nitrogen enhances the growth of forests which binds CO2. “Currently the health effects of nitrogen pollution are clearly more important, because the different climate effects largely cancel out,” says Lotze-Campen. “But this may change – hence limiting nitrogen would have the double benefit of helping our health today and avoiding climate risks in the future.”
Article: Bodirsky, B.L., Popp, A., Lotze-Campen, H., Dietrich, J.P., Rolinski, S., Weindl, I., Schmitz, C., Müller, C., Bonsch, M., Humpenöder, F., Biewald, A., Stevanovic, M. (2014): Reactive nitrogen requirements to feed the world in 2050 and potentials to mitigate nitrogen pollution. Nature Communications [DOI:10.1038/ncomms4858]
Weblink to Nature Communications where the article will be published: http://www.nature.com/naturecommunications
Think of how wonderful this world would be if we didn’t have an atmosphere.
Nick Stokes says:
May 13, 2014 at 12:34 pm
“Indeed so. When your doctor recommends more iron in your diet, he isn’t talking about nails.”
Actually he may. Adding iron nails to you broth while cooking it, cooking with iron pots and pans will add iron to the food you eat which will be absorbed by you. Though someone as smart as you would have known that.
“What a clever spoof!” I thought. So neatly done that even WUWT commenters are taking it seriously! But then I looked and saw that this ‘PIK’ outfit really exists, and actually published this paper: http://www.pik-potsdam.de/news/press-releases/dangerous-nitrogen-pollution-could-be-halved
I sent the link to Drudge. Maybe it will distract the Alarmists from the impending collapse of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
/Mr Lynn
The average farmer is way ahead of these guys and has been putting into practice everything they mentioned plus a whole lot more. Read the Michigan GAAMP standards about manure handling and see the regulations they follow. Lots of livestock and dairy operations grow their own feed and use the manure. Many sell surplus manure to crop farmers or compost,sanitize,and bag it for garden centers etc. The average farmer knows Nitrogen far better than these pretenders.
“Though it didn’t involve gene cloning, the green revolution still wasn’t “green” in the modern sense.
High yields demanded artificial fertilizer, chemical pesticides and new soil technology. But where would all the extra food have come from without these inputs? Organic farming has fed people for centuries but it hasn’t the capacity to feed the world’s burgeoning population.
If all our organic waste were somehow diverted into spreading over our fields, it wouldn’t be sufficient to fertilize half our current world cereal crop.
Bullsh*t may be unlimited in the GM debate, but on the ground, supplies are much more limited.” Johnjoe McFadden
“Though it didn’t involve gene cloning, the green revolution still wasn’t “green” in the modern sense.
High yields demanded artificial fertilizer, chemical pesticides and new soil technology. But where would all the extra food have come from without these inputs? Organic farming has fed people for centuries but it hasn’t the capacity to feed the world’s burgeoning population.
If all our organic waste were somehow diverted into spreading over our fields, it wouldn’t be sufficient to fertilize half our current world cereal crop.
Bullsh*t may be unlimited in the GM debate, but on the ground, supplies are much more limited.” Johnjoe McFadden
Someone coined the phrase, “Mankind in Amnesia.” That seems to fit this generation that has no clue what it’s been like trying to get bread from the earth for the last few thousand years, without fertilzers, pesticides and herbicides.
Some aphids have 10 to 15 generations in a growing season. Cucumber beetles may produce up to seven generations in one year. In moist conditions, a single fungus bearing plant can infect thousands more in just a few days.
In fact for every beneficial plant there are hundreds of pathogens and pests waiting in the wings to destroy them. These are the true pollutants. Wiping out potatoes, rice, tomatoes, apples and all of our wonderful food crops through reintroducing all of these deadly foes is an act of mass murder and organic farmers need to be held responsible for the diseases they spread.
Again, smuts, rust, scab and mildew must be legally defined as pollutants in this modern world of anti-rationalists. Not only that, using science to lie to people about their food, cattle, water, fire and transportation is also a toxic problem, inducing harmful fear, uncertainty and doubt into children’s minds in order to bolster the organic industry – and foreign interests determined to destroy our ability to feed ourselves. That is exceedingly toxic waste and hippies are a source of this black toxin which is destroying people’s enjoyment and digestion, and their ability to purchase affordable, nutritious food in all seasons.
I don’t mind a bit having health food stores and organic food sections where rich hippies pay twice as much for half as much to “save the planet.”
But beyond these pro-biofuel, high-energy-price, and anti-pesticide green policies there are potato and rice famines.
It is true that nitrogen fertilizers are possibly a choking hazard for some segments of the population. All Progressives scientisits choke on any and all agricultural advances, gagging and complaining, and sulking because their Malthusian fantasy was spoiled by Norman Borlaug, and genetic modification of crops, along with synthetic fertilizers, and especially above all, mass manufactured affordable fossil fuel powered tractors.
Did anyone know that the water they wash coal in, is converted into fertilizers. Very expensive.
Now let’s let the gullible and the credulous head off to their sustainable plantations together for a dose of rationality and experience.
Meanwhile, in the innovative, free US, let’s start thinking about developing some Dwarf Arctic Cacao Trees ™ which mama can grow in her own back yard. And some Dahlias that bloom all year, she would like that.
While they grope around for something to take over when the CO2 scare fails, they are (most kindly) shooting themselves in the foot. They are adding their own nails to their coffin now. This sort of claim will knock a few more blinkers from the eyes of the general public – as in, “What, something ELSE?”
So far there have been “dangerous levels” of too many things, all natural to Earth’s environment and/or to the food chain. We’re being lied to all over the place, not just in climate matters but dietary and medical matters, too, and it’s all done the same way – 30 years or more of alarmist papers based on fudged data and faulty science, picked up and promoted by governments.
Am I the only one to think this is all connected? What better way to kill off 90% of the population than to have people poison themselves with things they are assured are healthy. Even in the climate arena, Greens are pushing for all people to become vegetarian to “save the planet”. It is all planned – these videos are worth watching:
http://notrickszone.com/2014/05/10/the-greatest-nutritional-and-pharmaceutical-swindle-of-all-time-high-grain-low-fat-diets-are-killing-us-by-the-millions/
I don’t think the nitrogen scare will take hold. They tried with water a little while back when they objected to hydrogen cars as a solution to fuel usage. They’ve waved around methane plenty of times, too. They seem to be trying different ideas to see which will take root in the public imagination – then they’ll fire up the same scare in different clothing.
“Now Nitrogen, making up 78% of Earth’s atmosphere, and a requirement for many agricultural crops is given the label of “dangerous”. I’m guessing Oxygen and the “dangerous oxidation” it causes will be next.
First they came for the CFC’s, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a user of aerosol deodorant.
Then they came for the Carbon Dioxide, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a denier.
Then they came for the Nitrogen, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a farmer.
Then they came for the Oxygen–and there was no one left breathing to speak for me.”
Maybe you should stick to things you know something about. Exactly what are the problems with their work that justify such a statement? The paper explains clearly exactly what they are on about, and that response was the best you could do?
“Indeed so. When your doctor recommends more iron in your diet, he isn’t talking about nails.”
Damn, I never knew that doctors were part of the conspiracy too!
Also, I come from a fishing family. This is a real problem with real consequences for the productivity of farms, and the health of the marine environment which has consequences for our productivity. Better management of the nitrogen issue has improved the health of out waterways, and saved the farmers money.
Now, such restrictions on the use of such fertilizers don’t always end up with the farmers being better off, but it isn’t a one sided equation. It isn’t ok to screw up the marine environment and the industries that rely on it to keep a marginal farm going.
“Did anyone know that the water they wash coal in, is converted into fertilizers. Very expensive.”
Yes, but there are downsides to this too. Uptake of toxic minerals in plants can be a problem. Do you have any information about the current state of affairs with research on this? “No such thing as a free lunch” seems to very much apply to fertilizers.
It’s about the time to ban some twisted, RNA/DNA ladder forming nitrogenous bases http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogenous_base. The earth should be a sanctuary of noble gases and perfect inorganic crystals. /sarc.
“Tom in Florida says:
May 13, 2014 at 7:11 pm
Actually he may. Adding iron nails to you broth while cooking it, cooking with iron pots and pans will add iron to the food you eat which will be absorbed by you.”
This is interesting. Given most people have enough iron in their bodies to make 1 nail, I have enough to make a bag full thanks to haemochromatosis. No more iron pots for me!
Anthony: I do not see the apparent confusion you detect between N2 and other nitrogen compounds… It is not, at least, in the referenced article, where it talks about “reactive nitrogen” (NOx, NH3, NO3-).
Even if they were completely harmless, I think you should clarify this point, for the sake of the good scientific level of the blog.
The only nitrogen compound (other than N₂) inert enough to stay for some time in the atmosphere is nitrous oxide (N₂O, laughing gas). The rest have atmospheric lifetimes from hours to days.
Current atmospheric concentration of N₂O is 327 ppb (part per billion), 16% above preindustrial level, increasing at an annual rate of 0.25%, its lifetime is ~110 years, anthropogenic contribution to emissions is less than 30%, the rest is completely natural.
So will you go live in a vacuum? No I thought not.
Nitrogen compounds are not new. As long as lightning has been around, 4.6Ga, there has been a trace of these gasses. Life carried on with no problems until these crank grant seekers came onto the scene.
This reminds me of a saying George Carlin used to say:
“Saliva causes stomach cancer, only when swallowed in small amounts over long periods of time”
The rabbid left would have use run and hide from everything because they do not understand it and they think they can use it to control people. The shear idiocy of many of the things they come up with is astounding… But with plenty of low information voters to bleive every word they will do it anyway to gain power and control..
Patrick says:
May 14, 2014 at 1:11 am
This is interesting. Given most people have enough iron in their bodies to make 1 nail, I have enough to make a bag full thanks to haemochromatosis. No more iron pots for me!
Careful, the most popular alternative to Iron (more likely stainless steel) is Aluminium which is a potent Neurotoxin. Glass (ceramics) are probably safe enough but don’t work real well on induction stoves.
Nick Stokes says:
May 13, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Nick Stokes is a knowledgeable about dietary supplements & chemistry as he is about climate:
When your doctor recommends more iron in your diet, he isn’t talking about nails.
Iron-fortified cereal, perhaps? Try running a magnet through some.
A new front in the bullshit wars.