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Nitrogen's Role As a Greenhouse Gas

Nitrogen is a naturally occurring chemical used in many areas, including agriculture. However, it is also a greenhouse gas, with effects equal to or greater than that of carbon dioxide, according to the National Academy of Engineering. Nitrogen is a fossil fuel that cycles through the atmosphere and can trap a significant amount of heat. Managing the nitrogen cycle is an important part of dealing with anthropogenic global warming.

  1. Nitrogen

    • Nitrogen is the most abundant gas on the planet; it is an essential part of the life cycle, and its impact on the environment is great. Human-induced changes in the nitrogen cycle are altering the ways in which this gas interacts with the atmosphere, which leads to a greater greenhouse effect. Nitrogen is a chemical that works within organic bodies as part of DNA and is also found in a number of other naturally occurring substances as part of the nitrogen cycle.

    Nitrogen Cycle

    • The nitrogen cycle is a process by which the gas nitrogen is bonded with other chemicals to form nitrogen oxides, nitrates, ammonium compounds and other chemical compounds. Nitrogen can be found in manure and other fertilizers and in chemical agents used especially in agriculture, where it enters the soil and is used by plants for growth. Once nitrogen is in plants and the soil, it is broken down by bacteria and re-enters the atmosphere as a gas.

    Greenhouse Gases

    • As a greenhouse gas, nitrogen amounts to approximately 75 percent of the Earth's atmosphere, according to the National Academy of Engineering. Its natural cycle of entering the plant and animal cycle after being fixed and then re-entering the atmosphere as a gas has been disrupted by large-scale farming and commercial human activity. The amount of nitrogen gas entering the atmosphere has nearly doubled since the Industrial Revolution. Nitrogen gas in the form of nitrous oxide is about 200 times more effective than carbon dioxide at retaining heat, making it a very powerful greenhouse gas.

    Sources of Nitrogen

    • The burning of fossil fuels, planting of nitrogen-heavy foods like alfalfa and soy and using large amounts of fertilizer for commercial-scale farming are the main sources of the nitrogen now entering the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. Legumes like soy are attractive to the microbes and bacteria that break up nitrogen and return it to the atmosphere as gas. Although nitrogen-rich soil is healthy for plants, it also contributes greatly to the disruption of the natural nitrogen cycle.

    Effects

    • Aside from acting as a very powerful greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide also destroys ozone, which is an important part of the atmosphere that contributes to filtering out harmful ultraviolet rays. Nitrous oxide is also involved in the formation of acid rain, contributes to respiratory illness and diseases and pollutes water systems through agricultural run-off. The use of nitrogen by humans is damaging to the environment in a number of serious ways.

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