Nitrogen Cycle

According to the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, since 1950, human activities have more than doubled he annual release of nitrogen from the land into the rest of the environment. This is mostly from the greatly increased use of inorganic fertilizers to grow crops. The amount released is projected to double again by 2050.

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This excessive input of nitrogen into the air and water contributes to pollution and other problems to be discussed in later chapters. Nitrogen overload is a serious and growing local, regional, and global environmental problem that has attracted little attention. Princeton University physicist Robert Socolow calls for countries around the world to work out some type of nitrogen management agreement to help prevent this problem from reaching crisis levels.

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