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Next Step After Carbon: Knowing Your Nitrogen Footprint | Agriculture | Learning English/*
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RSS FeedNext Step After Carbon: Knowing Your Nitrogen Footprint ?04 April 2011
Photo: APCattle at a farm near Jerome, Idaho. Researchers say animal protein is a big cause of nitrogen pollution in the United States. Share ThisDiggYahoo! BuzzFacebookdel.icio.usStumbleUponTO DOWNLOAD the MP3 of this story, click on the MP3 link in the upper right corner of the page. Double-click any word to find the definition in the Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide pollution that we produce as a result of our activities. Some people try to reduce their carbon footprint because they are concerned about climate change. Now, researchers have a way for people to measure how much nitrogen pollution they produce -- their nitrogen footprint.
All plants and animals need nitrogen. Nitrogen is a major element in the proteins in our bodies. The atmosphere is mostly nitrogen.
In the early twentieth century, scientists learned how to take nitrogen out of the air and make it into a form that plants could use. University of Virginia professor Jim Galloway calls synthetic nitrogen fertilizer a "wonderful invention" because it increased food production. But he says many parts of the world use too much nitrogen fertilizer, and that harms the environment.
JIM GALLOWAY: "It contributes to smog, acid rain, loss of biodiversity, dead zones along the coast, global warming, stratospheric ozone depletion. The list is quite long."
So Professor Galloway and other researchers have developed a nitrogen footprint calculator. This Web-based tool asks people about the foods they eat and questions like how much they fly and drive and how big a house they live in.
Researchers say the average American produces forty-two kilograms of nitrogen pollution a year. Some of that comes from fossil fuels like oil and coal. But more than seventy percent involves food.
University of Virginia researcher Allison Leach says Americans eat almost twice as much protein as the government recommends. She says eating only the recommended levels could reduce nitrogen footprints by almost half.
Professor Galloway says animal protein plays a big part. He points to the example of cattle that are given feed grown with nitrogen fertilizer.
JIM GALLOWAY: "For large animals like beef, a very large fraction of the nitrogen that enters the cow’s mouth is excreted out the back end."
Last year, a study supported by American beef producers found that their industry's environmental impact has decreased over the past thirty years. Jude Capper at Washington State University reported that by producing more beef from fewer animals, the industry cut its carbon footprint by eighteen percent.
The nitrogen calculator is currently designed for people in the United States, Germany and the Netherlands. Another online calculator will be designed for India.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson and Steve Baragona. For a link to the nitrogen footprint calculator, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Jim Tedder.
Listen? Email? Print? Comments?Comments (25)05-04-2011drac(China)it just means nitrogen which should have been contained in the compound should not be released to the atmosphere, is there any way to consume it from the air so that it led to a balance? supposed to be at least one.
05-04-2011Bob Manutention(Mali)A lot of news for us.Your web site is going to help me improve my english level.On the other hand i advise all human beings to make effort by doing what they can to make our life in this planet more interesting.
05-04-2011Mr. Ferraz(Brazil)Very good text! People should think about this next step to "save" the planet from the currently damage. Thank you! Best regards, Mr. Marcos.
05-04-2011Joruji(Japan)I think that the nitrogen footprint calculator is very useful because it helps people become more aware of nitrogen emissions, and encourages them to take actions to reduce nitrogen pollution, thus protecting the environment.
06-04-2011thanh nguyen(vietnam)over many years, people have been producing much CO2 but it is not as harmful as a little radiation released into atmosphere by the cripple nuclear plant in japan!
06-04-2011Osamu(Japan)"a study supported by American beef producers.." is cynical expression?
06-04-2011Son(VIET NAM)I think that you should do something in our daily life to protect our planet from warning. just like going to school or work by public vehicles . In my country, they use fertilizer a lot, they harm not only for the enviroment but also for the health. hope the gorvernment do something for this to protect enviroment and our health .
06-04-2011chenda(Cambodia)it is a good program and it provide us a lot of information.
06-04-2011hythem(egypt)i wanna learn english
06-04-2011KIKA(SPAIN)BALANCE. everything in the world needs a balance.Excess is really bad
06-04-2011Maki(Japan)In my country, I have not heard record nitrogen so often yet. But it seems harmful as the chemical contributes to smog and so on. When I lived in the vicinity of Tokyo, I heard warnings of oxidise smog often in a hot summer day. Because I had a kid, we tried to go inside my house. Those environmental abnormalities cannot be ignored. Is there anything we can do by ourselves? I'd like to know to reduce the nitrogen
06-04-2011寇(china)i will comment everyday ,step by step to improve myself,
07-04-2011Aung(Myanmar)Thanks for informative report. Nice to read about Carbon footprint and Nitrogen footprint. I wonder how to reduce nitrogen and carbon dioxide pollution unless public and government cooperate. I really appreciated to Scientists as they really concerned about global warming and tried to reduce carbon emission and nitrogen usage.
07-04-2011werasakdi(Thailand)In my opinion I think all human get benefit from planet so ought to protect it.
07-04-2011Jiang(china)Today,more and more people realised that we must reduce pollutions and protect our enviroment.From now on,I will try to reduce my carbon footprint.
07-04-2011mzcs(From China)Eating more veg, Consuming less meat, Raising less children and animals including petsKeep this in mind, human and animals are on the top of food chainNo matter what the "footprint" are, carbon or nitrogen, human and animals generate most of these "footprints"
08-04-2011Huyen(Vietnam)Natural environment provides us mostly basic demands such as food, water.... we have to be responsible to protect it. I think that we, ordinary people, should do somthing small like eating vegetable third a week, go to near places on foot.. or change the habit that being harmful to the surrounding environment to cut down every pollutant footprint
08-04-2011nirmal shrestha(NEPAL)Yes, its important to save the nature !
09-04-2011djamel(algeria)thank you for the very amportant information,i want to learn english
10-04-2011Junichi(japan)I have not heard the name ' nitrogen footprint'.
10-04-2011Celine(Taiwan)The issue with radiation pollution for the future should be worried about than Nitrogen pollution.
10-04-2011CEMIL(TURKEY)However ? knew damages of carbon footprint , ? din't know effect of nitrojen footprint .Plant doesn't use nitrojen that is gas form Firstly,nitrojen have to mix inside the soil via rain.Lightning contributes this event.People want to more production so they use synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.consequently people harm balance of enviroment.Enviromental monitorings are done frequently and every people have to know this situation.
11-04-2011Israel CC(Mexico)This is very interesting for my, indeed i am learning new english words, thank you VOA.
12-04-2011Keira(China)I am living in oz now. i have never head about any issues of nitrogen pollution here yet. it seems will be a new pollution issue after carbon dioxide pollution.
12-04-2011cosmo(taiwan)I want to save earth , but how to do
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