The Warming Climate Aggravates Atmospheric Nitrogen Pollution in Australia
Yi Sun, Baojing Gu, Hans J. M. van Grinsven, Stefan Reis, Shu Kee Lam, Xiuying Zhang, Youfan Chen, Feng Zhou, Lin Zhang, Rong Wang, Deli Chen, Jianming Xu
Abstract
Australia is a warm country with well-developed agriculture and a highly urbanized population. How these specific features impact the nitrogen cycle, emissions, and consequently affect environmental and human health is not well understood. Here, we find that the ratio of reactive nitrogen ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>r</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> ) losses to air over losses to water in Australia is 1.6 as compared to values less than 1.1 in the USA, the European Union, and China. Australian <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>r</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> emissions to air increased by more than 70% between 1961 and 2013, from 1.2 Tg N yr -1 to 2.1 Tg N yr -1 . Previous emissions were substantially underestimated mainly due to neglecting the warming climate. The estimated health cost from atmospheric <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>r</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> emissions in Australia is 4.6 billion US dollars per year. Emissions of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>r</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> to the environment are closely correlated with economic growth, and reduction of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>r</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> losses to air is a priority for sustainable development in Australia.