BIO220H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Soil Acidification, Crop Yield

• School: UTSG
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIO220H1
• Professor: John Stinchcombe

Document Summary

Synthetic ammonia is the main ingredient in fertilizers in our world of modern agriculture. Haber is the fixation of inert nitrogen. Nitrogen is transformed by legumes and then transformed into nitrates, which is then taken up by plants. The synthesis of ammonia comes with a price, the price being water and air pollution. Deteriorating human health, results in the loss of biodiversity in the terrestrial life. These gases contribute to the greenhouse effect breaking the uv blocking ozone layer. In order to judge the efficiency of the fertilizer there are only 2 data points: crop yield, amount of nitrogen applied every year. The most inefficient amount of nitrogen is the one that goes into crops, and the plants. The nitrogen goes into livestock, instead of feeding people directly.