Conclusive evidence is found by the chemists at University of California, Berkeley, which proves that increase in the use of fertilizers during past 50 years has caused a dramatic increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide, a major greenhouse gas contributing in the climatic change of the world. It is assumed by the climate scientists that the increase of nitrous oxide was caused by the nitrogen based fertilizers.
As reported in the April issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, data of nitrogen isotope is used by the study for the identification of obvious fingerprint of fertilizer use in the air samples obtained from Antarctic ice called firn air dating from 1940 to 2005 and from an atmospheric monitoring station that collected air back in1978 at Cape Grim, Tasmania. According to Kristie Boering, study leader and Chemistry, Earth and Planetary Science professor at UC Berkeley, on the basis of data in hand alone their study is the first one to show atmospheric nitrogen isotope ratio and the way it has changed in time is a fingerprint of using fertilizers. It not that the fertilizers are being vilified as their use can’t be stopped but at the same time it is hoped that the study will help in bringing changes in the agricultural practices and fertilizer uses so that the release of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere is decreased.
An increase of 20 percent is seen in nitrous oxide levels since the year 1750 from 270 ppb (parts per billion) to more than 320 ppb. At present, on a political standpoint it is proving difficult to reduce global carbon emissions immediately but by reducing nitrous oxide emissions more than its share of overall greenhouse gas emissions can be initially offset. By setting a limit on nitrous oxide emissions time can be bought to figure out how to reduce carbon emissions.
Via: UCBerkeley
