What does nitrogen use efficiency have to do with global warming?
Industrial agriculture is a major contributor to global warming, producing a substantial amount of the world’s emissions of heat-trapping gases—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Heavy use of fossil fuel-based nitrogen fertilizer is a significant part of the problem, as some of the synthetic nitrogen is converted by soil microbes into the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, agricultural soil management accounts for two-thirds of the nation’s human-caused emissions of nitrous oxide. Minimizing agriculture’s future impact on our climate will require significant increases in NUE.
