Drowning in Excess Nitrogen
One century after the introduction of artificial nitrogen fertilizers, we are beginning to understand some negative effects of the discovery that was previously so lauded by science. And environmentalists are sounding the alarm.
Feeding Our Nitrogen Addiction
Nitrogen is one of the most important plant foods, and its levels within the soil determine both the quality and quantity of protein stored in a plant. But are all nitrogen sources equal?
Our Growing Nitrogen Addiction
The use of synthetic nitrogen as fertilizer is standard practice in much of the world, but it has shown adverse effects on the environment and human health. Because of this, science and environmental experts are trying to find ways to fix our nitrogen addiction, and some of their studies pursue unexpected paths.
And Then What?
Vision interviews Paul Ehrlich, whose dire predictions about the effect of a burgeoning world population never came to pass. He may have got the dates wrong, he says, but not the gravity of the problem.
Fritz Haber: Plowshares and Swords
The prophet Isaiah wrote of a time when swords would be turned into plowshares—when instruments of war would be turned into implements for farming—heralding lasting peace for humankind. But history reveals that plowshares turn into swords when knowledge used for good becomes knowledge used for evil.
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