Reactive nitrogen emissions contribute to greenhouse gases, as well as air and water pollution.
Reactive nitrogen emissions contribute to greenhouse gases, as well as air and water pollution. For the first time, researchers from McGill University have calculated Canada’s nitrogen footprint (akin to a carbon footprint) – at both national and provincial levels. They looked at the three primary sectors that contribute nitrogen to the environment to calculate the annual average nitrogen footprint: food production and consumption, wastewater treatment, and fossil fuel use. There were some surprises when they analyzed their results.
“Past nitrogen footprint studies in other countries have typically emphasized the food system as the main source of nitrogen released to the environment,” says Graham MacDonald, an Associate Professor in McGill’s Geography Department and the senior author on the paper published recently in Environmental Research Letters. “While food production and consumption are important sources of nitrogen in Canada, our research shows that most variation across provinces in a relative sense is related to fossil fuels. This came as a surprise to some of our colleagues.”
Read More: McGill University
