Optimizing air quality management in Europe and North America: Justification for integrated management of both oxidized and reduced forms of nitrogen

Abstract

No nutrient element is more important than nitrogen in governing the development of living organisms and in determining the pollution climate of the earth. So far, the processes of enhancing agricultural and forest production and making pollution-control adjustments in the industrial, commercial, agricultural, and transportation systems of society have proceeded in more or less complete isolation from concern about the environmental consequences of human alterations in the nitrogen cycle of the earth. Also, most pollution abatement and mitigation strategies have so far been aimed at resolving one or another particular societal pollution problem in which oxidized and reduced forms of nitrogen play a part. The time has come to consider alternative, more fully integrated strategies and tactics by which to optimize societal efforts to maintain or increase agricultural and forest production while also enhancing the effectiveness and decreasing the cost of abating or mitigating various nitrogen-induced aspects of soil-, air-, and water pollution. In this paper we explore three general ideas: (1) some important similarities and differences in agriculture, forestry, and industry in the Netherlands and North Carolina and what they mean for nitrogen pollution management in our two home societies, (2) justification for adopting a “total fixed nitrogen approach” rather than continuing to deal with oxidized and reduced forms of nitrogen separately, and (3) developing a “concept of optimum nitrogen management for society”.