Global Population and the Nitrogen Cycle
- Nitrogen is 78% of the atmosphere.
- Humans consume nitrogen through plants.
- Nitrogen is part of DNA, proteins, and cellular structures of animal and plant cells.
- Very little amount of nitrogen is in the soil, where plants can absorb it.
- Bacteria such as legumes need nitrogen into ammonia which plants can use.
- Farmers try to replenish the soil by planting legumes after harvesting crops that degrade the soil.
- Farmers use human and animal waste as fertilizers.
- 1/3 of nitrogen consumption is synthetic ammonia
- Scientists found a way to make synthetic ammonia by combining nitrogen and hydrogen.
- Too much nitrogen can add to risks to cancer and "baby blue" disease
- Eutrophication is also caused by nitrogen runoff from farms.
- Due to limited amount of ammonium access, there should be a carrying capacity on human population.
Author's Key Points:
The author is informs the readers the importance of the nitrogen to both the environment and the human population. It is in the building blocks of life such as DNA, proteins, and enzymes; without nitrogen, life would cease to exist. It is also needed for plant growth; the bacteria called legumes convert the atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia that plants can absorb. Once scientists found the correlation between plant growth and nitrogen content in the soil, they invented a way to mass produce it. Because farmers only get limited amount of ammonia from animal waste and legumes, they rely on the synthetic version of ammonia. A scientist in Germany found that with the right conditions, adding hydrogen and nitrogen creates ammonia, hence he used a factory to mass produce them. Ultimately it was good for the farmers, and those that consume the crops, however soon it became a problem. Too much nitrogen in the soil can increase the likelihood to develop some types of cancer. However the bigger threat is when nitrogen from the farms got into lakes, ponds, eventually the ocean. Much like the plants on the land, nitrogen stimulates growth of algae in the water. Although algae is good when it is limited, too much can cause depletion of the oxygen levels and causing dead zones. Dead zones are regions of water where there were too many algae and phytoplankton that cause oxygen depletion killing off many species of fish and other organisms in the area. Nitrogen is helpful at some extent, however too much is very harmful.
My Opinion:
Nitrogen cycle occurs naturally in a process in nature; human influence in it cause ripple effects in the environment. Although nitrogen is a necessity, too much can harm both the environment and the population. It is understandable that farmers use fertilizers in order to sell cops to the ever growing human population; however eventually it will hit a limiting factor. Degrading the soil by allowing synthetic ammonia to replace the natural occurring ones affect the consumers of this compound. Nitrogen reminds me of medicine, where just the right amount has the power to heal, too much can destroy. Moderate amounts of nitrogen is healthy even necessary, however due to the large masses of land that need to be fertilized, it is getting in the oceans and causing many species to die off. If it is not controlled, dead zones will occur much like the one in Chesapeake Bay, Washington. The bay is overrun by algae that killed many species including crabs. Crabs was important to the local economy as well as to the locals; however due to the nitrogen from chicken farms, it was killed off. Effects of humans to the environment seem limitless, from synthetically replicating a compound to support the human population, to the mass extinction due to eutrophication. If it is not contained, the natural cycles will change drastically.
The author is informs the readers the importance of the nitrogen to both the environment and the human population. It is in the building blocks of life such as DNA, proteins, and enzymes; without nitrogen, life would cease to exist. It is also needed for plant growth; the bacteria called legumes convert the atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia that plants can absorb. Once scientists found the correlation between plant growth and nitrogen content in the soil, they invented a way to mass produce it. Because farmers only get limited amount of ammonia from animal waste and legumes, they rely on the synthetic version of ammonia. A scientist in Germany found that with the right conditions, adding hydrogen and nitrogen creates ammonia, hence he used a factory to mass produce them. Ultimately it was good for the farmers, and those that consume the crops, however soon it became a problem. Too much nitrogen in the soil can increase the likelihood to develop some types of cancer. However the bigger threat is when nitrogen from the farms got into lakes, ponds, eventually the ocean. Much like the plants on the land, nitrogen stimulates growth of algae in the water. Although algae is good when it is limited, too much can cause depletion of the oxygen levels and causing dead zones. Dead zones are regions of water where there were too many algae and phytoplankton that cause oxygen depletion killing off many species of fish and other organisms in the area. Nitrogen is helpful at some extent, however too much is very harmful.
My Opinion:
Nitrogen cycle occurs naturally in a process in nature; human influence in it cause ripple effects in the environment. Although nitrogen is a necessity, too much can harm both the environment and the population. It is understandable that farmers use fertilizers in order to sell cops to the ever growing human population; however eventually it will hit a limiting factor. Degrading the soil by allowing synthetic ammonia to replace the natural occurring ones affect the consumers of this compound. Nitrogen reminds me of medicine, where just the right amount has the power to heal, too much can destroy. Moderate amounts of nitrogen is healthy even necessary, however due to the large masses of land that need to be fertilized, it is getting in the oceans and causing many species to die off. If it is not controlled, dead zones will occur much like the one in Chesapeake Bay, Washington. The bay is overrun by algae that killed many species including crabs. Crabs was important to the local economy as well as to the locals; however due to the nitrogen from chicken farms, it was killed off. Effects of humans to the environment seem limitless, from synthetically replicating a compound to support the human population, to the mass extinction due to eutrophication. If it is not contained, the natural cycles will change drastically.