Unexpected culprit causes scary air pollution in China

Although it accounts for only 7% of the total area of ​​global agricultural land, China uses more than one third of the world's nitrogen fertilizer. The abuse of nitrogen fertilizer is becoming a serious pollutant not only for agricultural land but also for water and air in China.

Misuse of nitrogen fertilizer causes heavy air pollution in China

Chinese officials have been suffering for many years because of pollution. According to recent statistics, each year China has more than 1 million deaths due to environmental pollution.Beijing is known for being one of the most polluted cities in the world. This result is probably not surprising when looking at China's huge industrial economic machine.

A couple wears a tight-fitting mask to avoid breathing in polluted air on Beijing's "red alert" on December 8.

However, it is worth mentioning that there is a significant polluting agent coming from an unexpected field: Agriculture.

According to Business Insider, nitrogen fertilizer is widely used throughout the fields in China as a formidable " culprit " that is exacerbating the pollution of soil, water and air in the country.

China owns only 7% of the total agricultural land in the world. However, the country uses up to 35% of global nitrogen fertilizer. Rice is the main food in China. Rice needs nitrogen fertilizer to grow. However, too much use of these fertilizers is causing harmful environmental consequences.

The northern provinces of China are considered the country's rice granary. However, the types of rice grown in large fields in northern China have a characteristic that is difficult to absorb the available nitrogen minerals in the soil. Therefore, farmers must use nitrogen fertilizer to grow rice well.

According to Business Insider, the amount of excess nitrogen in the soil that plants cannot absorb has a negative impact on the environment, when it is possible to poison water, causing fish and other aquatic life to die, making it Gas pollution is more serious.

Landscape of rice fields in China.

China on October 8 must first broadcast "red alert" - the highest level in the warning range of air and dust pollution. The Beijing government warns, the capital will be in serious fog from December 8-10. Accordingly, Beijing has temporarily closed schools, banned construction sites from operating and applied limited traffic during this time.

In fact, the abuse of nitrogen fertilizer in agriculture is poisoning the air in China. When nitrogen oxides react in the air, interacting with industrial pollutants, they form a dense fog that covers many Chinese cities, including the Beijing capital. Not only that, the nitrogen oxides that exist in the air also accelerate global warming.

Dr. Hanqin Tian warned that excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer did not stimulate plant growth, but also increased nitrogen emissions, causing global warming.