More effective management of nitrogen fertilizers could reduce emissions of a harmful air pollutant from the cultivation of three staple crops by up to 38%, according to a study published in the journal Nature and conducted by an international team of scientists led by Yi Zheng from China’s Southern University of Science and Technology. A model using a type of artificial intelligence known as machine learning helped researchers untangle the complex relationship between environment, climate and agricultural practices to generate the most detailed map to date of global ammonia emissions from rice, wheat and corn. Ammonia is a major air pollutant that drives the formation of smog, which is linked to a variety of health issues, including asthma, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied to crops to increase yield, but some of that nitrogen is lost to the atmosphere in the form of ammonia. Globally, crop cultivation is responsible for around 50-60% of human-caused ammonia emissions. Ammonia is a major air pollutant that drives the formation of smog, which plagues cities like New Delhi and Beijing. Smog is linked to a variety of health issues, including asthma, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. Image by Jim Fruchterman via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). The amount of ammonia emitted from cropland depends on two factors: how much nitrogen is applied and what proportion of that nitrogen is lost to the atmosphere as ammonia — a metric known as the ammonia emission factor. Emission factors are determined by a variety of…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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