Fertilizer and climate change
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Subject: Environment
Context:
Fertilizers usage has been making climate change worse
Concept:
- Widely-used synthetic fertiliser, ammonium nitrate and its chemical cousins ammonium sulfate, sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate are significant contributors to climate change.
- Fertilizers production is energy-intensive, requiring the burning of fossil fuels.
- After farmers apply these synthetic fertilisers to crops, chains of chemical reactions generate nitrous oxide, or N2O, a greenhouse gas.
- The International Fertilizer Association pegs the amount of anthropogenic GHG emissions for which the industry is responsible at 2.5 per cent, but all greenhouse gasses are not created equal. N2O has a far greater global warming potential than either methane or carbon dioxide.
- Alternatives include organics such as manure, and deployment of cover crops like soya and other legumes that convert nitrogen in the air into plant food. But these methods will only take food production so far
