N2007 - Nitrogen 4th Conference, Bahia/Brazil

N-2007 Agriculture, Development, and Nitrogen A problem of too little or too much

The last 40 years have seen an extraordinary change in the global nitrogen cycle. As recently as the 1960s, nitrogen availability on Earth was controlled by natural processes, but the human creation of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and the release of nitrogen from fossil-fuel combustion now match the natural rate of formation of reactive nitrogen on the planet’s landscape.
The use of nitrogen is imbalanced, with industrialized countries suffering pollution problems from too much nitrogen and low-income countries having a shortage of nitrogen that constrains food production. The goal of the N2007 Symposium is to address these two challenges in an integrated manner. The meeting will bring together some of the world’s best nitrogen scientists with development experts to build a new agenda towards a sustainable use of nitrogen in our planet.