Great Barrier Reef being destroyed by nitrogen farm runoff
At the recent COP19
climate talks in Warsaw, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released its new study:
Drawing Down N2O, written by scientists from 35 organizations, it shows the damage currently done by the gas and suggests ways of reducing emissions. It warned that nitrous oxide (N2O) is now the most important ozone-depleting emission and the third most potent greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere. One ton of N2O has an impact equal to 300 tons of carbon dioxide, CO2. N2O is a potential climate double threat.
The gas lasts up to 120 years in the atmosphere, where it drifts upwards to damage the ozone layer. Now that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and chlorine-based chemical emissions have been reduced, N2O is the largest single cause of ozone depletion. Unless emissions are curbed, the gas could undo the work of the Montreal Protocol (pdf) in reducing the size of the ozone “hole.”
Dead zone Gulf of Mexico in red
Nitrous oxide is the major cause of the
"dead zone" in the Chesapeake Bay and in the Gulf of Mexico, which is caused by excess nitrogen runoff from industrial livestock operations and farms growing corn for animal feed crops and for ethanol along the Mississippi river. It's also the major
cause of the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef alongside Australia which is being destroyed by the nitrogen runoff from livestock farms from the Burdekin and Fitzroy rivers, the largest rivers flowing into the reef.
The report says that emissions can be reduced by increasing the efficiency of farmers in using fertilizer and so minimizing the loss of nitrogen to the environment. Other options include reducing meat consumption, as producing meat protein causes more emissions than plant protein.
About 80 percent of nitrous oxide emissions from human activity come from agriculture. Bacteria convert the nitrogen found in manure or excess fertilizer left in the soil into nitrous oxide gas.
Every pound of meat we eat requires multiple pounds of grain to produce, and the grain in turn requires the use of nitrogen-containing fertilizer, so the amount of nitrous oxide released per calorie of meat (and dairy) is much higher than that from eating crops directly.
Recently Environmental Research Letters published a study by Eric Davidson, of Woods Hole Research Center, in which he lays out actions that would be required in order to adhere to N2O emissions scenarios developed by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Specifically, meeting the strictest emissions reduction scenario would mean that, in the developed world, the average person would need to cut their meat consumption in half by the year 2050. This would help ensure there would be enough food to feed the planet’s rising population, with nearly 9 billion people expected to call Earth home by 2050, up from about 7 billion today. Red meat consumption is growing in the developing world and is still on the increase in developed countries, trends that pose formidable obstacles to those seeking to reign in nitrous oxide emissions. ...
A decline in meat consumption would have two main benefits, Davidson said. It would reduce the demand for nitrogen-based fertilizers, and cut down on manure production and use.
So again we find that reducing meat consumption in conjunction with mass transition to green energy, is one of the most
effective solutions to mitigating climate change and restoring our planet to health. We are fortunate that we have a practical, safe solution to the most dangerous crisis humanity has faced.