HR: 1330h
AN: B32B-0390    [PDF]
TI: A coordinated approach to investigating human perturbations to the Nitrogen cycle
AU: Galloway, J N
EM: jng@virginia.edu
AF: Environmental Sci., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904
AU: * Sahagian, D
EM: dork.sahagian@unh.edu
AF: EOS & Earth Sci., University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824
AB: Nitrogen is essential to the survival of all life forms yet the natural abundance of useable nitrogen is so low that massive human alteration of the nitrogen cycle has been required to sustain the feeding of the worldAŸA›A›ƒ_sAªA›ƒ_zA›s burgeoning population. The alteration has been made even greater by the release of nitrogen oxides to the atmosphere during fossil fuel combustion. Changes in the nitrogen cycle due to human action have exacerbated a number of environmental issues, including smog, acid deposition, climate change, coastal eutrophication, stratospheric ozone depletion, all of which have impacts on people and ecosystems on a regional or global basis. Because of the cascading nature of the effectAŸA›A›ƒ_sAªA›ƒ_zA›s on nitrogen, understanding of the effects, their underlying causes and their interactions must be studied in an integrated fashion from both science and policy perspectives. Toward that end, a coordinated effort is being made to integrate the diverse scientific, policy, industrial, and other stakeholder communities in an "International Nitrogen Initiative" (INI) with the goal of placing the global community in a position to optimize nitrogenAŸA›A›ƒ_sAªA›ƒ_zA›s beneficial role in sustainable food production and minimize nitrogenAŸA›A›ƒ_sAªA›ƒ_zA›s negative effects on human health and the environment resulting from food and energy production. Preliminary results suggest that novel approaches to fertilizer application can have a profound effect on excess nitrogen that enters surface and ground water, and that eutrophication of lakes and the coastal zone can be ameliorated by more efficient practices. In addition, as the processes involved in denitrification are more fully understood, it is becoming possible to better assess the partitioning of nitrogen between the ground/surface water and the atmosphere. As the coordinated study of the nitrogen cycle progresses, the assessment of nitrogen fluxes will make it possible to develop region-specific solutions to local N-related environmental problems, and ultimately to apply the appropriate scientific, engineering, and policy tools to implement these solutions.
DE: 0330 Geochemical cycles
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical processes (4805)
DE: 3322 Land/atmosphere interactions
DE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty
DE: 6620 Science policy
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting