EDINBURGH, Scotland, April 11 (UPI) -- An assessment of nitrogen pollution in Europe concludes it costs each person in the region between $200 and $1,000 annually.
The European Nitrogen Assessment study presented in Edinburgh, Scotland, estimates the annual cost of damage caused by nitrogen across Europe is between $98 billion and $450 billion, more than double the extra income gained from using nitrogen fertilizers in European agriculture.
This is the first time the threat of nitrogen pollution, including its contribution to climate change and biodiversity loss, has been measured in economic terms on a continental scale, a release from the Center for Ecology and Hydrology reported Monday.
"Nearly half the world's population depends on synthetic, nitrogen-based fertilizer for food but measures are needed to reduce the impacts of nitrogen pollution," Mark Sutton, lead editor of the ENA assessment, said. "We have the know-how to reduce nitrogen pollution, but what we need now is to apply these solutions throughout Europe in an integrated way."
Curbing nitrogen emissions is a central environmental challenge for the 21st century, Sutton said.
