Human Activities Overloading Ecosystems with Nitrogen, Report Says

Humans are over-saturating the planet’s ecosystems with nitrogen through the excessive use of agricultural fertilizers, the burning of fossil fuels, and other industrial activities, according to a new study. While nitrogen is a natural element essential to human life, the surging influence of human activities in the past century has probably impacted the nitrogen cycle more than any phenomenon in the last 2.5 billion years, according to a study by U.S. and Danish researchers published in the journal Science. In addition to polluting the planet’s fresh waters and leading to massive algae blooms in coastal zones, the excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers and other activities creates a powerful greenhouse gas, nitrogen oxide, that contributes to climate change, the researchers said. Much of the nitrogen that ends up in the planet’s ecosystems comes from an 800 percent increase in the use of nitrogen fertilizers from 1960 to 2000, the study said. Researchers suggest more sustainable practices can reduce the impacts, including systematic crop rotations, more efficient fertilizer application, and relying on traditional plant-breeding techniques.