Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
News Agriculture

Fertilizer produces far more greenhouse gas than expected

Farmers’ overuse of nitrogenous additives may explain puzzling emissions

ENRICHED EMISSIONS  Extra nitrogen-based fertilizer on crops such as corn could lead to more emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, than scientists have estimated.

rsooll/Shutterstock

By Beth Mole

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Agriculture

  1. drone pollinating flower with bubbles
    Tech

    Bubble-blowing drones may one day aid artificial pollination

    By Maria Temming
  2. Leaf-cutter ants
    Animals

    Insects’ extreme farming methods offer us lessons to learn and oddities to avoid

    By Susan Milius
  3. honeybees
    Life

    Engineered honeybee gut bacteria trick attackers into self-destructing

    By Susan Milius
  4. Artisans carving rosewood
    Ecosystems

    Can forensics help keep endangered rosewood off the black market?

    By Edward Carver
  5. Ganges River
    Earth

    Too much groundwater pumping is draining many of the world’s rivers

    By Jonathan Lambert
  6. white-crowned sparrow
    Agriculture

    Birds fed a common pesticide lost weight rapidly and had migration delays

    By Maanvi Singh
  7. honeybees
    Animals

    U.S. honeybees had the worst winter die-off in more than a decade

    By Susan Milius
  8. danger sign
    Agriculture

    The U.S. is still using many pesticides that are banned in other countries

    By Maria Temming

From the Nature Index

Paid Content