10 votes

The world’s farms are hooked on phosphorus. It’s a problem.

Posted by skybrian
Tags: agriculture, farming, crops, chemicals, materials, phosphorus, fertilizers, author.max g levy, source.wired, paywall
https://www.wired.com/story/the-worlds-farms-are-hooked-on-phosphorus-its-a-problem/

Link information

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Authors
Max G. Levy, Reece Rogers, Dhruv Mehrotra, Simon Hill, Amanda Hoover, Matt Ribel, Maggie Chen, Jon Hurdle, Chantel Tattoli, Rhett Allain, Maryn McKenna, Matt Simon, Jordana Cepelewicz
Published
Jan 20 2023
Word count
1538 words

8 comments

  1. skybrian
    Link
    From the article:

    From the article:

    We have liberated Earth’s caches of phosphorus so rapidly that the element now pollutes freshwater ecosystems, where excesses cause harmful algal blooms, infiltrates the snowpack, and decreases levels of dissolved oxygen in lakes and rivers. Studies suggest that humanity has grown too dependent on it for feeding the planet—and we are running out of this nonrenewable resource, which comes from geologic deposits that take millenia to form. When it washes from soil into waterways, it essentially disappears forever. A looming “peak phosphorus” moment threatens to increase prices and foment political tension if demand eclipses supply, as a large majority of reserves exist only in one corner of North Africa.

    6 votes
  2. [6]
    vord
    Link
    I mean, this is a recurring theme that isn't really discussed at length in the broader climate catastrophe discussion. We more or less live on a finite planet. The resources we have to available...

    I mean, this is a recurring theme that isn't really discussed at length in the broader climate catastrophe discussion.

    We more or less live on a finite planet. The resources we have to available to us is all we're going to get.

    Helium is almost worse than the phosphorus discussed...it's immensely important in many scientific applications and we waste so much filling balloons. And when we're out of Helium, we're out.

    How much Titanium is being wasted being dumped into white paints and slathered on drywall?

    6 votes
    1. vektor
      Link Parent
      Ehh... Titanium is fine. It's almost everywhere, and to my knowledge not concerning. The reason it's so expensive is the processing from ore to metal... Which you dont need if you use it as a...

      How much Titanium is being wasted being dumped into white paints and slathered on drywall?

      Ehh... Titanium is fine. It's almost everywhere, and to my knowledge not concerning. The reason it's so expensive is the processing from ore to metal... Which you dont need if you use it as a pigment.

      Helium though... Well, we better figure out how to scrape gas off gas giant sometime soon.

      7 votes
    2. [2]
      skybrian
      Link Parent
      I think these are problems that it would be better to study and talk about one at a time? The “finite planet” level of analysis doesn’t seem all that useful. They are all problems that would need...

      I think these are problems that it would be better to study and talk about one at a time? The “finite planet” level of analysis doesn’t seem all that useful.

      They are all problems that would need to be solved to build a closed ecosystem, eventually, but getting the phosphorus cycle right probably needs to happen sooner.

      2 votes
      1. vord
        Link Parent
        I ran out of time on my post, but what I was getting at is that these things are the tip of an iceberg. Definitely not disputing the importance of anything in the article, merely bringing up that...

        I ran out of time on my post, but what I was getting at is that these things are the tip of an iceberg.

        Definitely not disputing the importance of anything in the article, merely bringing up that this is the kind of thing that is going to be coming up more and more.

        We have as a species deploy technology as soon as we are able with little to no thought on whether it is a good idea to do so. I was pleased to discover that we don't need to rely on old warships to have low-radiation steel anymore. We were for some time a world that couldn't manufacture it anymore.

        3 votes
    3. Octofox
      Link Parent
      It does feel like there is always an everything shortage. It’s hard to filter what actually matters so I, and probably most people just ignore it. For example the chip shortage mostly came and...

      It does feel like there is always an everything shortage. It’s hard to filter what actually matters so I, and probably most people just ignore it.

      For example the chip shortage mostly came and went and didn’t impact me.

      1 vote
    4. Akir
      Link Parent
      Pfft, that’s what space is for. Just gotta wait for that orbital elevator to be built and then we will have no more problems with scarce minerals.

      Pfft, that’s what space is for.

      Just gotta wait for that orbital elevator to be built and then we will have no more problems with scarce minerals.