World's Top Nitrogen Scientists Announce Global Effort to Track Nitrogen Impacts and Solutions

Human-induced changes in nitrogen use are threatening global food security, climate, environment and public health.

PRESS TELECONFERENCE

Thursday, May 28, 2009 1:00pm EDT

Download MP3 Recording of Teleconference (4.5 MB, 35 minutes) >>

Fact Sheet on Reactive Nitrogen >>
(includes regional solutions and experts' contact information) 163KB PDF

WHAT:

The world's leading nitrogen scientists will discuss the launch of the Global Nitrogen Assessment to provide policymakers with neutral, consensus-based science on the consequences of increased global nitrogen use. These experts hope to spur coordinated action across scientific and policy spheres to prevent climate, food security, and public health impacts. The long-term goal is to increase awareness of nitrogen pollution and provide guidance to policymakers, similar to the climate change information the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides.

WHO:

The Global Nitrogen Assessment is a project of the International Nitrogen Initiative, and supported by the Scientific Council on Problems in the Environment (SCOPE), the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Teleconference participants include:

James N. Galloway, Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia
Cheryl A. Palm, Senior Research Scientist, Columbia University's Earth Institute
Phil Robertson, Professor of Ecosystem Science, Michigan State University
Alan Townsend, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder
Dan Morgan, former Washington Post reporter and current German Marshall Fund fellow (moderator)

WHY:

Reactive nitrogen is essential to modern life, from the ability to grow food to the production of energy. Yet its benefits and problems are not evenly distributed.

Nitrogen-starved regions in Africa suffer from poor crop yields and malnutrition, while in the U.S., Europe and Asia, most nitrogen is released through chemical fertilizer use. Other sources of nitrogen pollution include inadequate sewage treatment, animal manure and smokestack and tailpipe emissions.

Reactive nitrogen contributes to ozone layer depletion, smog, acidification of soils and water supplies, climate change, water pollution, coastal “dead zones,” and human health problems. Growing demand for corn for biofuels and other uses continues to accelerate nitrogen pollution.

Experts have identified many policy and technology solutions that can be applied now, from using chemical fertilizer more precisely to increasing fuel efficiency and manure management and improving sewage treatment.

Contact Information

Alan Townsend, University of Colorado

(303) 492-6865

James N. Galloway, University of Virginia

(434) 924-3437

Cheryl Palm, Columbia University

(845) 680-4462

Phil Robertson, Michigan State University

(269) 760-8364

For more information, contact:

Penelope Whitney, Resource Media

(415) 397-5000 x 313