Nitrogen from Rock Could Fuel More Plant Growth Around the World – but Not Enough to Prevent Climate Change [on Its Own] - by B. Z. Houlton

Nitrogen is one of the most important resources for people, ecosystems and the planet.  It’s found in all sorts of essential molecules, including DNA, protein and cell walls.  Life - and humanity - cannot exist without adequate access to this precious nutrient.

For many years, researchers believed that essentially all of the nitrogen in the world’s natural plants and soils originated from the atmosphere, where it makes up about 78 percent of the air we breathe.  But in a recent study, my colleagues Scott Morford, Randy Dahlgren and I discovered that up to a quarter of the planet’s terrestrial nitrogen originates from weathering of bedrock.

As a global environmental scientist who has been studying nitrogen, climate and ecosystems for over a decade, I found this result surprising.  And it has big implications for people and the planet.  If there is more nitrogen available in Earth’s system than scientists have thought, it could fuel extra photosynthesis by plants, increasing the rate at which they pull carbon pollution out of the atmosphere.

But this isn’t a solution to climate change, contrary to what some prominent pundits have contended.  Rock weathering is no magic answer:  It simply does not supply nitrogen fast enough to radically slow warming over the next 100 years.

Read more at Nitrogen from Rock Could Fuel More Plant Growth Around the World – but Not Enough to Prevent Climate Change