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Consequences of human modification of the global nitrogen cycle.
- Source :
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences; 7/5/2013, Vol. 368 Issue 1621, p1-9, 9p
- Publication Year :
- 2013
-
Abstract
- The demand for more food is increasing fertilizer and land use, and the demand for more energy is increasing fossil fuel combustion, leading to enhanced losses of reactive nitrogen (N<subscript>r</subscript>) to the environment. Many thresholds for human and ecosystem health have been exceeded owing to N<subscript>r</subscript> pollution, including those for drinking water (nitrates), air quality (smog, particulate matter, ground-level ozone), freshwater eutrophication, biodiversity loss, stratospheric ozone depletion, climate change and coastal ecosystems (dead zones). Each of these environmental effects can be magnified by the 'nitrogen cascade': a single atom of N<subscript>r</subscript> can trigger a cascade of negative environmental impacts in sequence. Here, we provide an overview of the impact of N<subscript>r</subscript> on the environment and human health, including an assessment of the magnitude of different environmental problems, and the relative importance of N<subscript>r</subscript> as a contributor to each problem. In some cases, N<subscript>r</subscript> loss to the environment is the key driver of effects (e.g. terrestrial and coastal eutrophication, nitrous oxide emissions), whereas in some other situations nitrogen represents a key contributor exacerbating a wider problem (e.g. freshwater pollution, biodiversity loss). In this way, the central role of nitrogen can remain hidden, even though it actually underpins many trans-boundary pollution problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- LAND use
FOSSIL fuels
NITROGEN
POLLUTION
EUTROPHICATION
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09628436
- Volume :
- 368
- Issue :
- 1621
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 93742956
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0116