China faces major nitrogen pollution issue

Over the last 20 years or so, China has become a global synonym for excessive pollution, especially air pollution. However, very little is known that another dangerous form of pollution is also growing in the world's most populated country - nitrogen pollution.

The recent study that was done by joint work from Stanford Woods Institute and China Agricultural University in Beijing concluded that nitrogen pollution increased by 60 percent annually from the 1980s to the 2000s. The major sources of nitrogen pollution are industry, cars and fertilizers.

The nitrogen pollution occurs once excessive amounts of nitrogen are being deposited on land and water in China by carriers such as rain and dust.

China is today the world's largest emitter of nitrogen. China faces very difficult task at reducing agricultural nutrient pollution while increasing food production.The latest reports suggest that country's consumption of nitrogen as a fertilizer increased threefold from the 1980s to 2000s, in fact country's production and use of nitrogen-based fertilizers is greater than that of the United States and the European Union combined. Not only that, it has been also reported that livestock numbers and coal combustion increased  fourfold, and the number of cars on Chinese roads about twentyfold.

The excessive nitrogen pollution is also one of the factors that contribute to China's poor air quality.  Not only this, the increased amount of nitrogen also leads to degradation of soil and water quality, causes increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and has a negative environmental impact by reducing biological diversity.

China's huge economic growth accompanied by rapid industrialization and agricultural expansion is the major culprit for excessive nitrogen emissions and nitrogen deposition. The solution to halt nitrogen pollution is pretty obvious namely stricter environmental policy focused on improving efficiency in agricultural use of nitrogen as well as reducing nitrogen emissions from including industry and cars. However, obvious does not also mean easy, and once again China will likely be a victim of its own economic success.

Nitrogen pollution growing in Rocky Mountain National Park

The excessive levels of nitrogen coming from nitrogen compounds emanating from power plants, vehicles and fertilizers used in the agriculture could be a great threat to biodiversity in many areas of the world. One of these areas is also Rocky Mountain National Park where scientists discovered that the elevated levels of nitrogen are already changing the alpine vegetation.

Professor William Bowman at the University of Colorado said that the spreading nitrogen pollution in the park is „a first step in a series of changes which may be relatively irreversible.“

The increased atmospheric nitrogen pollution has already resulted in changes in plant abundances, which could eventually lead to high decrease of more rare species leading to significant biodiversity loss. The scientists also fear that the excessive levels of nitrogen pollution in Rocky Mountain National Park will also lead to acidified soils and a major decline in trout population.

The nitrogen levels near the park are expected to grow, primarily because of the increased agricultural development in nearby area.

The park attracts many fishermen throughout the year and the fishing activity could be negatively affected with the increased nitrogen pollution because this presents major health risk for trout and their food sources. There is even a risk that nitrogen pollution could negatively impact tourism in Colorado.

The state of Colorado definitely needs to find adequate solutions to prevent further increase of nitrogen pollution in Rocky Mountain National Park. Some nearby power plants have already switched to cleaner energy sources (Excel Energy) and Colorado agricultural industry is also said to be working on several management practices that should lead to lower levels of nitrogen emissions.

Industrialization responsible for nitrogen pollution in lakes

According to a latest research based on studies of sediment from 36 lakes in the USA, Canada, Greenland and Svalbard, Norway, nitrogen pollution in lakes in the northern hemisphere has been growing since the late 19th century because of the rapid industrialization and increased fertilizer use.

The researchers were able to discover increased amount of nitrogen even in very remote lakes, thousands of miles from the nearest urban area.

The increase in nitrogen levels started around 1895, and has started to accelerate in the last 60 years because of the commercialization of artificial fertilizer production in the 1950s.

The burning of fossil fuels and massive use of fertilizers are the two main reasons behind the increased levels of nitrogen in Earth’s atmosphere. From the Earth’s atmosphere nitrogen gets transported with air currents and reaches the ground in rain or snow and can travel thousands of miles reaching even the most distant lakes and ecosystems.

This latest study included 36 lakes all of which showed the same sign – that the increased levels of nitrogen from human activity can be traced back to the end of the 19th century. The scientists concluded this after analyzing how the chemical composition of the sediment has changed over the centuries.

Plants need nitrogen because nitrogen in very important nutrient but too much nitrogen isn't recommended from environmental point of view because it pollutes water bodies and can also lead to smog and acid rains. Nitrogen pollution is becoming fast growing environmental issue in many corners of the world.

Nitrogen pollution from fertilizers continues to grow

It is impossible to imagine our modern agriculture and food production without the nitrogen fertilizers. Friends on one side nitrogen fertilizers are also foes on other side, mostly in form of negative environmental impact.

Some scientists even refer to nitrogen pollution as "the biggest environmental threat that nobody has heard of." There are plenty of truth in these words because people usually think about either air or water pollution when discussing the pollution issue, neglecting the growing problem of nitrogen pollution.

There has to be much bigger public awareness regarding the nitrogen pollution issue in order to force world leaders to take a global action to control the levels of nitrogen pollution. Very few people recognize nitrogen pollution as serious environmental issue and this ignorance could cost us dearly in years to come.

The scientists believe that the main reason why nitrogen pollution remains mainly unrecognized environmental issue is its lack of visibility because nitrogen fertilizers remain invisible in our soil, water and air.

Nitrogen pollution can lead to serious environmental and health issue such as unhealthy air, unsafe drinking water, dead zones in the ocean, disruptive effect on nearby ecosystems in form of reduced biodiversity and even negative impact on climate change (in form of greenhouse gas nitrous oxide).

Some would say that there is no danger of nitrogen since our air already contains 78% of nitrogen. The difference is that the nitrogen in air is inert unlike the reactive nitrogen used in fertilizers.

Some recent studies have showed that nitrogen-related air pollution alone costs the U.S. well over $10 billion per year in both health costs and reduced crop growth.

How can the world satisfy both environment and modern agriculture? The science will certainly have to work hard on the development of new technologies that would reduce nitrogen's impact.

Farmers also need to become more educated about being more efficient with their fertilizer use and focus on environmental practices that help reduce nitrogen levels.

Nitrogen pollution issue will only grow in size if we choose to be the ignorant about it. The ignorance is certainly not the way to deal with environmental issues of the modern world.

Reducing nitrogen pollution is not only good for environment

According to the latest study by the US scientists published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology reducing nitrogen pollution created by the wastewater treatment plants is not only good from environmental but also from the economic point of view.

The scientists believe that by adding the already available technology to the existing infrastructure in the usual type of wastewater treatment plant could create a triple benefits of reducing the levels of nitrogen pollution, greenhouse gas pollution, and also help reduce energy usage.

Many modern wastewater treatment plants already have systems to reduce ammonia levels in effluent, but give very little attention to decrease the overall level of nitrogen pollution, which mostly occurs in the form of nitrous oxide (N2O), a highly potent greenhouse gas.

The scientists believe that the appropriate emissions credits to address this issue could create an economic incentive of up to $600 million per year for U.S. plants to reduce nitrogen pollution, and also another benefit of up to $100 million per year in electricity savings.

In order to significantly reduce nitrous oxide emissions and improve water quality there need to be adequate technologies and this can be achieved with better designing.

Dr. James Wang, the chief author of the study stated that "the creation of an emissions trading market could provide the needed incentive for wastewater treatment plants to adopt technologies that would reduce climate pollution, help clean up our waterways, and even save energy and money."

These new technologies should primarily focus on resource recovery and reuse from waste.

Nitrogen pollution facts

Nitrogen pollution comes from the variety of different sources such as farms, vehicles, industry and waste treatment.

Nitrogen pollution is particularly serious issue in coastal areas where it not only harms marine ecosystems but also contributes to global warming (because of the exchange of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide).

Nitrogen is the big contributor to air pollution and can lead to respiratory problems such as asthma and even cancers in people.

Many scientists believe that the widespread use of fertilizers used in the agriculture is mostly to blame for excessive levels of nitrogen pollution in many areas around the world.

The scientists at the Texas University have calculated that agricultural runoff and the burning of fossil fuels have boosted the supply of reactive nitrogen in the open oceans to around 50 percent above the normal range.

More nitrogen in oceans means bigger depletion of oxygen levels in the water which leads to serious damage to marine life.

One of the best solutions on how to reduce the level of nitrogen pollution on global scale would be to control the use of fertilizers (more efficient usage of mineral and organic fertilizers) as well as to reduce the number of cars on the world roads, particularly in developing countries.

According to the 2011 EU study nitrogen pollution costs Europe between 70 and 320 billion euros ($100bn-$460bn) per year. It is estimated that agriculture produces 70% of the nitrous oxide emissions in Europe.

According to the 2011 study published in the Global Change Biology sewage-derived nitrogen has become the main source of nitrogen pollution in the Caribbean.

Nitrogen pollution in coastal areas leads to decreased water transparency, the decline of many fish species, and the emergence of toxic phytoplankton species.