新澳门六合彩内幕信息

Nitrogen fingerprints point to warmer world

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have developed a way to more accurately forecast nitrogen鈥檚 effects on the climate cycle. Incorporating this method shows the planet may be headed for a warmer future than was previously thought, according to research published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.

According to the researchers, models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change until now have not provided realistic predictions of nitrogen emissions from the land to the air and water. Of the 12 climate models used by the IPCC, only one included nitrogen, and that model was not tracing nitrogen correctly.

鈥淥ur benchmarking methods will provide a way for all the models to include nitrogen, to communicate with each other, and to reduce their overall uncertainty,鈥 said lead author Benjamin Houlton, a professor in the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. 鈥淚ncluding this information will likely reveal that the climate system is more sensitive than we anticipate, and it likely will be a warmer world than we think.鈥

Tracing nitrogen鈥檚 journey

The scientists identified the isotopic 鈥渇ingerprints鈥 of nitrogen, tracing its journey to model how nitrogen moves through ecosystems and how it escapes to the air or water. The benchmarking technique is now being put into global models used by the IPCC. 

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Nitrogen is a critical component of climate change. It determines how much carbon dioxide emissions natural ecosystems can absorb, and it directly warms the climate as nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. It occurs naturally in the air and water and also enters the environment through man-made agricultural fertilizers.

The benchmarking technique Houlton and his colleagues developed will help examine the fate of nitrogen fertilizers in the environment as well as the climate impacts of nitrogen.

鈥淣itrogen is a challenge facing humanity,鈥 Houlton said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 becoming too much of a good thing. We will hear more and more about nitrogen鈥檚 impact on human health and the environment in the future, but developing a more sophisticated scientific understanding of the nitrogen cycle is essential to provide policymakers, stakeholders and the public better information to make decisions.鈥

The study鈥檚 co-authors include former 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis postdoctoral students Alison Marklein and Edith Bai. It received funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

Media Resources

Kat Kerlin, Research news (emphasis on environmental sciences), 530-750-9195, kekerlin@ucdavis.edu

Benjamin Houlton, Land, Air and Water Resources, 530-752-2210, bzhoulton@ucdavis.edu

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University Environment Science & Technology Society, Arts & Culture

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