A new study that was published recently in Geophysical Research Letters shows that “Emissions from farms outweigh all other human sources of fine-particulate air pollution in much of the United States, Europe, Russia and China, according to new research. The culprit: fumes from nitrogen-rich fertilizers and animal waste combine in the air with combustion emissions to form solid particles, which constitute a major source of disease and death.”
Agricultural air pollution is based primarily on emissions of ammonia from animal waste and fertilizers. The ammonia combines with pollutants from combustion like nitrogen oxides and sulfates to form tiny particles which can be inhaled deep into the lungs, causing respiratory distress.
Fortunately, as the burning of fossil fuels decreases over time, this production of small particles should decrease even with continued fertilizer use (which we need to increase crop yields to feed more people in the future).
You can read more about it at the American Geophysical Union blog here. and in Modern Farmer here.
