Let’s talk about Nitrogen

What do you think of when someone mentions nitrogen? Maybe it would prompt the thought that it is fundamental to feeding the world’s eight million people. But it would come as no surprise if most of us would not know that for over a century, we have been “fixing” more and more nitrogen from the atmosphere and accumulating it in our soils and waters.

“Fixing” nitrogen means turning the element’s chemically inert gaseous form, which makes up 78% of the atmosphere, into a more reactive compound ...