Archive for Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Corn boom may worsen ‘dead zone’ in Gulf waters

December 18, 2007






"We might be coming close to a tipping point," said Matt Rota, director of the water resources program for the New Orleans-based Gulf Restoration Network, an environmental group. "The ecosystem might change or collapse as opposed to being just impacted."

Environmentalists had hoped to cut nitrogen runoff by encouraging farmers to apply less fertilizer and establish buffers along waterways. But the demand for the corn-based fuel additive ethanol has driven up the price for the crop, which is selling for about $4 per bushel, up from a little more than $2 in 2002.

That enticed American farmers to plant more than 93 million acres of corn in 2007, the most since 1944. They substituted corn for other crops, or made use of land not previously in cultivation.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that up to 210 million pounds of nitrogen fertilizer enter the Gulf of Mexico each year. Scientists had no immediate estimate for 2007, but said they expect the amount of fertilizer going into streams to increase with more acres of corn planted.

"Corn agriculture practices release a lot of nitrogen," said Donald Scavia, a University of Michigan professor who has studied corn fertilizer's effect on the dead zone. "More corn equals more nitrogen pollution."


Ragingbear 7 years, 6 months ago

Well, eventually it will wake up with psychic powers. So people will all end up calling that area "The Psychic Friend's Network".

gr 7 years, 6 months ago


Sure corn may use more fertilizer. But, what else would they be growing if not corn? Anytime people can make money growing a crop, they'll do it. Even planting new land. Most crops require some fertilizer. Much corn has been planted in the past. Did we somehow hit some arbitrary limit which suddenly NOW is creating some imagined disaster?

Everything's a disaster. A bunch of political crap. Stop planting corn and some other crop being planted will be releasing more carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, etc., etc. Sure to doom earth as we know it. Y2K all over again.

oldvet 7 years, 6 months ago

Why not just put a big intake at the mouth of the Mississippi/Gulf and pipe all the nitrogen-rich water back up to the growing states... the farmers could use it for irrigation, recycling the fertilizer in the water...

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