2nd December 2025
The imbalance of the nitrogen cycle also causes air pollution. Whilst nitrogen based fertilisers in the soil and water are being consumed by various microbes, processing nitrites in to become a nitrates which can be absorbed by the plants, nitrogen oxide (NO) is released as a bi-product. (1)
Nitrogen oxide, like carbon dioxide, is a greenhouse gas, but with 300 times the warming potential.
Nitrogen oxide readily reacts with other gases in the atmosphere to form nitrogen dioxide which is a healthy hazard inflaming airways and increasing susceptibility to respiratory infections and allergens.
Together nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide are nitrous oxides or NOx. (2)
Whilst agriculture is the main source of nitrous oxides, they are also emitted through the burning of fossil fuels – including from petrol and diesel power vehicles, diesel powered shipping and railway engines, and from aviation.
(1) https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20210603-nitrous-oxide-the-worlds-forgotten-greenhouse-gas
(3) https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector
The Green Tau 