Understandably, the use of both N and P fertilizers has been identified
as one of nine drivers that alters the geological state of the earth,
from the stable geological era of the Holocene during the past
11,000 years to the human-impacting Anthropocene state of today,
with unforeseeable implications for life on earth over the coming
decades (Figure 5). Much of the N escapes as a greenhouse gas that
contributes to global warming. Both N and P can also leak out from
the soil into groundwater, streams and lakes, causing eutrophication
that may kill fish and continue to flow into the sea, creating “dead
zones” in coastal areas. Curtailing nutrient losses will, therefore,
create far-reaching improvements to the functioning of the earth’s
ecosystem, allowing it to stay within the safe operating space of our
planetary boundaries.
stratospheric ozone depletion.13 This will allow the assessment of the
impact of fertilizer interventions on these drivers, revealing synergies
and trade-offs with respect to food security and the environment, and
will help to raise societal awareness about the urgency for innovative
fertilizers. Whereas N and P have been identified as global drivers
in this planetary boundary concept, the entire spectrum of nutrients
affect life on earth, directly or indirectly, imposing the need for
innovative fertilizers.
Fertilizers are so impactful that they
enable feeding of billions of people but
also contribute to changing the geological
state of planet earth.
In contrast to overuse, the underuse of fertilizers leads to soil
degradation. The associated loss of soil organic matter leads to
emissions of greenhouse gases. Also, low yields result in encroachment
into natural areas in search for new agricultural land, leading to loss of
biodiversity.11 Moreover, the associated use efficiency of water at low
yield levels is dismally low, leading to wasteful use of the already scarce
water resources.12 Energy use by the fertilizer industry is about 1% of
total global use, with the largest amount of energy gains expected from
increased uptake efficiency and with that cutting down total fertilizer use.
It is essential, therefore, to strike a sustainable balance for the use of
N, P and any other nutrients contained in fertilizers, to operate within
the planetary boundaries and human needs. VFRC is quantifying the
impact of global N and P cycles to four other drivers of global change,
namely, land-system change, biodiversity, climate change and
Figure 5. Innovative fertilizers that increase uptake efficiency, mitigation of losses
and enhanced recycling to curtail nutrient accumulations in ecosystems will
significantly improve the health of the global ecosystem.
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