Oct 8, 2010 06:32 GMT  ·  By
At Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, excess nitrogen promotes algae growth, which leads to eutrophication
   At Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, excess nitrogen promotes algae growth, which leads to eutrophication

The global accumulation of nitrogen in the world's ecosystems is beginning to reach devastating levels, say experts who conduct work in trying to keep levels of this chemical in check.

The substance is absolutely necessary for life, and is also the main component of our atmosphere. But, when it accumulates in the environment, it can cause widespread damage.

Unfortunately, the main sources of nitrogen today are human activities, such as the industry and agriculture The latter is responsible for producing vast amounts of the chemical, and then releasing it into the environment.

Another major source for the chemical is the burning of fossil fuels, such as natural gas, oil and coal. As such, the substance may be actively participating in promoting climate change.

Nitrogen has over the past few years been found to elevate its concentration in the world's freshwater supply, which is a very worrying discovery. But the good news is that the situation is not irreparable.

By adopting time-honored sustainable practices, experts say, the amounts of the stuff that are now found in the environment and throughout ecosystems can be diminished to harmless levels.

A study on this issue, which was funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), appeared in the October 8 issue of the top journal Science. The work was conducted by an international science group.

“Altogether, human activities currently contribute twice as much terrestrial nitrogen fixation as natural sources, and provide around 45 percent of the total biological useful nitrogen produced annually on Earth," says scientist Paul Falkowski.

The Rutgers University research team member also draws attention to the fact that a large portion of the increase is owed to the 800 percent increase in the use of nitrogen fertilizers, that took place from 1960 until 2000.

“In fact, no phenomenon has probably impacted the nitrogen cycle more than human inputs of nitrogen into the cycle in the last 2.5 billion years,” he goes on to say.

The expert believes that nature has the potential to clean its own ecosystems, but argues that its agents require some time to carry out their actions.

“Natural feedbacks driven by microorganisms will likely produce a new steady-state over time scales of many decades,” Falkowski explains.

“Through this steady state, excess nitrogen added from human sources will be removed at rates equivalent to rates of addition, without accumulating,” he concludes.