Fertilizer: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Runoff of soil & fertilizer.jpg|thumb|[[Surface runoff|Runoff]] of [[soil]] and fertilizer during a rain storm]]{{See also|Environmental impact of agriculture|Human impact on the nitrogen cycle|Nitrogen fertilizer#Problems with inorganic fertilizer|Nitrogen Cycle}}Synthetic fertilizer used in agriculture has [[Environmental impact of agriculture|wide-reaching environmental consequences]].

According to the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)]] [[Special Report on Climate Change and Land]], production of these fertilizers and associated [[land use]] practices are drivers of [[global warming]].~~{{sfn|Mbow|Rosenzweig|Barioni|Benton|2019}}~~ The use of fertilizer has also led to a number of direct environmental consequences: [[agricultural runoff]] which leads to downstream effects like [[Dead zone (ecology)|ocean dead zones]] and waterway contamination, [[soil microbiome]] degradation, and accumulation of toxins in ecosystems. Indirect environmental impacts include: the [[Hydraulic fracturing|environmental impacts of fracking]] for [[natural gas]] used in the [[Haber process]], the agricultural boom is partially responsible for the rapid [[Human population growth|growth in human population]] and large-scale industrial agricultural practices are associated with [[habitat destruction]], [[Biodiversity loss|pressure on biodiversity]] and agricultural [[soil loss]].

According to the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)]] [[Special Report on Climate Change and Land]], production of these fertilizers and associated [[land use]] practices are drivers of [[global warming]]. The use of fertilizer has also led to a number of direct environmental consequences: [[agricultural runoff]] which leads to downstream effects like [[Dead zone (ecology)|ocean dead zones]] and waterway contamination, [[soil microbiome]] degradation, and accumulation of toxins in ecosystems. Indirect environmental impacts include: the [[Hydraulic fracturing|environmental impacts of fracking]] for [[natural gas]] used in the [[Haber process]], the agricultural boom is partially responsible for the rapid [[Human population growth|growth in human population]] and large-scale industrial agricultural practices are associated with [[habitat destruction]], [[Biodiversity loss|pressure on biodiversity]] and agricultural [[soil loss]].

In order to mitigate environmental and [[food security]] concerns, the international community has included food systems in [[Sustainable Development Goal 2]] which focuses on creating a [[Effects of climate change on agriculture|climate-friendly]] and [[sustainable food system|sustainable food production system]]. Most policy and regulatory approaches to address these issues focus on pivoting agricultural practices towards [[Sustainable agriculture|sustainable]] or [[Regenerative agriculture|regenerative agricultural]] practices: these use less synthetic fertilizers, better [[soil management]] (for example [[No-till farming|no-till agriculture]]) and more organic fertilizers.

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 [[File:Runoff of soil & fertilizer.jpg|thumb|[[Surface runoff|Runoff]] of [[soil]] and fertilizer during a rain storm]]{{See also|Environmental impact of agriculture|Human impact on the nitrogen cycle|Nitrogen fertilizer#Problems with inorganic fertilizer|Nitrogen Cycle}}Synthetic fertilizer used in agriculture has [[Environmental impact of agriculture|wide-reaching environmental consequences]].
-According to the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)]] [[Special Report on Climate Change and Land]], production of these fertilizers and associated [[land use]] practices are drivers of [[global warming]].{{sfn|Mbow|Rosenzweig|Barioni|Benton|2019}} The use of fertilizer has also led to a number of direct environmental consequences: [[agricultural runoff]] which leads to downstream effects like [[Dead zone (ecology)|ocean dead zones]] and waterway contamination, [[soil microbiome]] degradation, and accumulation of toxins in ecosystems. Indirect environmental impacts include: the [[Hydraulic fracturing|environmental impacts of fracking]] for [[natural gas]] used in the [[Haber process]], the agricultural boom is partially responsible for the rapid [[Human population growth|growth in human population]] and large-scale industrial agricultural practices are associated with [[habitat destruction]], [[Biodiversity loss|pressure on biodiversity]] and agricultural [[soil loss]].
+According to the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)]] [[Special Report on Climate Change and Land]], production of these fertilizers and associated [[land use]] practices are drivers of [[global warming]]. The use of fertilizer has also led to a number of direct environmental consequences: [[agricultural runoff]] which leads to downstream effects like [[Dead zone (ecology)|ocean dead zones]] and waterway contamination, [[soil microbiome]] degradation, and accumulation of toxins in ecosystems. Indirect environmental impacts include: the [[Hydraulic fracturing|environmental impacts of fracking]] for [[natural gas]] used in the [[Haber process]], the agricultural boom is partially responsible for the rapid [[Human population growth|growth in human population]] and large-scale industrial agricultural practices are associated with [[habitat destruction]], [[Biodiversity loss|pressure on biodiversity]] and agricultural [[soil loss]].
 In order to mitigate environmental and [[food security]] concerns, the international community has included food systems in [[Sustainable Development Goal 2]] which focuses on creating a [[Effects of climate change on agriculture|climate-friendly]] and [[sustainable food system|sustainable food production system]]. Most policy and regulatory approaches to address these issues focus on pivoting agricultural practices towards [[Sustainable agriculture|sustainable]] or [[Regenerative agriculture|regenerative agricultural]] practices: these use less synthetic fertilizers, better [[soil management]] (for example [[No-till farming|no-till agriculture]]) and more organic fertilizers.