Download the entire PDF Nitrogen oxide
Gregory R. Wrightstone
Nitrogen oxide (N .)20) has now joined carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (ONLY4) in the pantheon of climate alarm advocates about man-made “devil” gases. In their view, increasing concentrations of these molecules is leading to unusual and unprecedented warming that will lead to catastrophic consequences for both our ecosystems and humanity.
Countries around the world are in the process of significantly reducing or eliminating the use of nitrogen fertilizers based on the hitherto unknown properties of nitrous oxide. Women’s Discount2O emissions are being proposed in Canada between 40 and 45 percent and in Netherlands up to 50 percent. of Sri Lanka complete ban fertilizer in 2021 led to the complete collapse of their predominantly agricultural economy.
To provide absolutely necessary information about WOMEN2O, the CO2 Alliance published an important and timely paper assessing the warming impact of the gas and its role in the nitrogen cycle. Armed with this vital information, policymakers can now proceed to make informed decisions about the costs and benefits of this beneficial molecule’s forced reduction.
Here new paper join the CO2 Coalition’s previous reports on other greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane.
Key takeaways from the paper:
- At current rates, double N2O will happen over 400 years.
- Atmospheric warming by N2O is estimated to be 0.064oC per century.
- Increasing crop yields requires continued use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to feed a growing population.
WOMEN2O and its warming potential
The first part of the paper is highly technical and assesses N .’s greenhouse warming potential2O. Like CO2, nitrous oxide is a linear, chemically inert molecule that absorbs infrared radiation. However, FEMALE2O stays in the atmosphere longer than ONLY4 because it is more resistant to chemical or physical decomposition. Increased N concentration in the atmosphere2O is likely to contribute to the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere. To assess how likely this is to happen, the authors consider the well-proven radiation transmission theory and available experimental evidence rather than the highly complex general cyclic climate models, which have been proved to be unreliable.
Current N2O concentration at sea level is 0.34 parts per million (ppm) and increases at a rate of about 0.00085 ppm/year. This rate of increase has been steady since 1985 with no signs of accelerating. Compare with CO2, at a current concentration of about 420 ppm, is in order. For the current concentration of the greenhouse gas, the radiant force per N adds2Molecular O, about 230 times greater than the force per added CO2 molecule. This sounds bad, but what is the truth?
The rate of increase of CO22 molecules approximately 2.5 ppm/year, or about 3,000 times greater than the growth rate of N2O molecules. So the contribution of nitrous oxide to the annual increase in forcing is 230/3000 or about 1/13 of CO2. If the main greenhouse gas CO2ONLY4 and FEMALE2O has contributed about 0.1 C/decade to the observed Earth warming over the past few decades, which would which corresponds to about 0.00064 degrees Celsius per year or 0.064oC per century of warming from W2O, a quantity that is barely observable. At the current rate of increase, an amount of N doubles2O concentration would take more than four centuries and, according to Figure 5 of the paper, the increase in temperature would be very small.
nitrogen cycle
Along with water and carbon, nitrogen is of primary importance to plant life and its proper ratio is crucial for optimal growth. Carbon available to plants from CO2 in the atmosphere; nitrogen must be made available in the soil. To this end, various microorganisms and plant species, with the help of symbiotic microorganisms, fix diatomic nitrogen (N2) from the atmosphere into the soil, where it enters complex cycles of nitrogenous compounds that can move more or less freely in the soil and serve many plant species. Through microbial activity (recent work shows that archaea are of equal importance to bacteria) the nitrogen cycle ends with the release of N.2and to a much lesser extent FEMALE2O, back to the atmosphere. Because of losses to the atmosphere and leaks into water sources, soil nitrogen needs to be replenished continuously to optimize plant growth.
Agricultural and natural plant growth contributes an equal amount to the nitrogen cycle. Optimal plant growth requires large amounts of nitrogen. Some nitrogen is provided by decaying plant and animal manure. However, these nitrogen sources are not sufficient for agricultural needs to feed the growing world population.
Figure 14 from an article comparing the relationship between the increasing use of artificial nitrogen fertilizers and the increasing yields of various crops in the United States from 1866 on. The close correlation between nitrogen fertilizer and crop yield is remarkable. Figure 13 shows a similar worldwide correspondence between nitrogen fertilizer use and cereal crop yields. Of course, changes in complex processes cannot be attributed to a single cause. Also of considerable importance in crop production are other mineral fertilizers such as phosphorus and potassium, better crop varieties such as hybrid maize, and increased atmospheric CO concentrations.2. However, the important role of nitrogen fertilizers in increasing crop yields is unmistakable.
Figure 14 – Production of corn, wheat, barley, hay, oats and rye in the United States.
Figure 13 – World annual agricultural production of nitrogenous fertilizers (blue, in Tg)
and global production of all cereal crops (oranges, in Gigatonnes) from 1961 to 2019
Feeding a growing world population at a rate of 1.1 percent per year is no small feat. The devastating famines of the past were averted in the last century thanks to the basic scientific developments outlined above. Currently, many governments, under the influence of “green” pressure groups, show a dangerous tendency to limit the use of nitrogen fertilizers to bring farmers “back to nature” to save the world. world from “climate disaster. In the Netherlands, the government is considering forcing a large number of farmers out of business to prevent catastrophic warming from N.2O exhaust gas. As this new article shows, WOMEN2O emissions will have a negligible effect on temperature rise. It is the farmer, not the government official, who should determine the optimal amount of nitrogen fertilizer to maximize crop yields.
Agriculture without artificial fertilizers, although labor-intensive and very low-yielding, may be feasible for a small group of the world’s population willing and able to afford it. However, it is inconceivable that growing volumes, or even the current world population, could be grown without the intelligent and ground-based use of nitrogen and other fertilizers. science.
The “green” illusion cannot feed billions of people.
Wheat with and without nitrogen fertilizers – Deli Chen – University of Melbourne
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