Fertilizers, a Boon to Agriculture, Pose Growing Threat to U.S. Waterways

Nitrogen-based fertilizers, which came into wide use after World War II, helped prompt the agricultural revolution that has allowed the Earth to feed its seven billion people. But that revolution came at a cost: Artificial fertilizers, often applied in amounts beyond what crops need to grow, are carried in runoff from farmland into streams, lakes and the ocean. New research suggests that climate change will substantially increase this form of pollution, leading to more damaging algae blooms and dead zones in American coastal waters.

 Nitrogen pollution: the forgotten element of climate change

While carbon pollution gets all the headlines for its role in climate change, nitrogen pollution is arguably a more challenging problem. Somehow we need to grow more food to feed an expanding population while minimising the problems associated with nitrogen fertiliser use.

 Nitrogen: The environmental crisis you haven’t heard of yet

Widespread use of synthetic fertilizers enabled crop yields to skyrocket during the past century. But there’s a catch: Excess nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from agriculture is leaking into lakes and flowing into estuaries, bays and seas planetwide, causing toxic algal blooms like the ones at Atitlán, as well as immense oxygen-free “dead zones” in the oceans, where most marine life can’t survive.

 The nitrogen emergency: How to fix our forgotten environmental crisis

Nitrogen pollution poisons our water and clogs our air – and it exacerbates other environmental problems. But if we organise now, we can fight back before it’s too late.

 We’ve changed a life-giving nutrient into a deadly pollutant. How can we change it back?

Coastal dead zones, global warming, excess algae blooms, acid rain, ocean acidification, smog, impaired drinking water quality, an expanding ozone hole, and biodiversity loss. Seemingly diverse problems, but a common thread connects them: human disruption of how a single chemical element, nitrogen, interacts with the environment.

Farms, More Productive Than Ever, Are Poisoning Drinking Water in Rural America

One in seven Americans drink from private wells, which are being polluted by contaminants from manure and fertilizer.

Here's How To End Iowa's Great Nitrate Fight

Measurements showed that they cut the amount of nitrate in water draining from his fields by roughly half. Scientists who've studied cover crops in many places say that they typically reduce nitrate releases by about one third. There are other benefits as well, including protecting the soil from erosion.

Nutrient Pollution: How Excess Nitrogen and Phosphorus are Shaping Health Outcomes

Nutrient pollution is one of the United States’ most widespread issues, posing as a persistent threat to drinking water sources, human health, outdoor recreation, ecosystem health and more. It is also a problem that is increasingly difficult to solve.

Nutrients: Phosphorus, Nitrogen Sources, Impact on Water Quality

Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) are the primary nutrients that in excessive amounts pollute our lakes, streams, and wetlands.

Our meat habit is causing pollution issues—by way of our poops

Agricultural runoff isn't the only thing polluting waterways worldwide.

Plantwatch: Wildflowers lose out twice from nitrogen pollution

Unclean air and run-off from agricultural fertilisers alter habitats while competitors threaten to overwhelm sensitive species.

Something in the Water

The nitrogen in chemical fertilizer does two things incredibly well. It supercharges crop growth, and it produces nitrates, chemicals that are ultra-soluble in water and easily pass through soil to accumulate in groundwater. Once there, nitrates can persist for decades and increase in concentration as more fertilizer is added.