ENV 1101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Tropospheric Ozone, Eutrophication, Nitrogen Cycle

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Environmental Studies
• Course: ENV 1101
• Professor: Wersch

Document Summary

Human activity has caused various alteration in the nitrogen cycle. The majority of these alteration are a result of agricultural production. However, fossil fuel combustion and the burning of biomass has also caused an increase in nitrogen emissions in the form of nitrous oxide. Alterations in the nitrogen cycle can have various and widespread effects. However, the dynamics of many of these interactions are still unknown and require further investigation. It is often difficult to quantify the various effects of anthropogenic changes in the nitrogen cycle due to the complex nature of this system. It is additionally difficult to reduce many of these factors due to the link between food production and increased nitrogen emissions. Since nitrogen is needed for agricultural prosperity it is nearly impossible to increase crop production without increasing nitrogen based fertilizer usage. For this reason the solution to this problem must be multidisciplinary. However, scientific advancements have discovered sustainable solutions to remedy some of these problems.