Nitrogen, Lightning, and Rain
Together they create a wonderful natural phenomenon to help life on earth
We all know that the air in the atmosphere is made up of about 78% Nitrogen from our school. And few might have also studied that most artificial soil fertilizers we use for agriculture these days, also have Nitrogen compounds.
But did you know that Nature uses Nitrogen, Lightning, and Rain to work together to create a natural soil fertilizer? Here’s a short story of how it works.
The natural phenomenon
The Nitrogen in the air has a strong molecular bond that keeps it from being used by plants. Breaking this bond requires a great deal of energy. Guess what has that energy?
Lightning, when it strikes, breaks that strong molecular bond in the Nitrogen molecule. This Nitrogen will then be able to easily react with Oxygen in the air to form Nitrates. Nitrates can dissolve more easily in the rainwater than regular Nitrogen gas.
These nitrates dissolved in the rain, fall to the ground, and act as a very powerful soil fertilizer. It helps to increase the growth of plants, which in turn increases the amount of food that we can produce.
Another way that nature helps us to increase our food production is through the action of bacteria. There are certain types of bacteria that live in the roots of plants. These bacteria take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form that plants can use.
The chemical way
The bacteria perform the Nitrogen fixation process slowly and there isn’t enough Lightning to provide the amount of nitric oxide needed to fertilize all the land on Earth. And the hunt for artificial nitrogen-based fertilizers began.
In the early 1900s, German scientists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch developed an artificial process, named the Haber-Bosch process that produces ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen under high pressure and high temperature. The Haber-Bosch process is used to produce nitrogen-based fertilizers, which are then used to increase food production.
The Haber-Bosch process has made it possible to produce large amounts of food, which has helped to feed the world’s ever-growing population.
Without the Haber-Bosch process, we would not be able to produce enough food to feed the current world’s population.
The Caveat
The Haber-Bosch process was invented around the time of World War 1. And guess what people found as another use of this process?
Armies used Ammonium Nitrates to create explosives and are still used for that purpose. So food production is not the only thing this process is used for.
Remember the Beirut explosion on 4th August 2020? Yeah, it happened because a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut accidentally exploded.
Conclusion
The Nitrogen-Lightning-Rain natural process is essential for food production but because of human activity, the Haber-Bosch process has taken over in order to keep up with the world’s growing population.
While the Haber-Bosch process saved us from world hunger, it came with negative consequences such as pollution and environmental damage. Overriding natural phenomena with such artificial processes always have its side effects.
With great power comes great responsibility
So, the next time you see a thunderstorm or rain shower, remember that it is naturally helping us to increase our food production.
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