Considering the Nitrogen Cycle for Weather Control Was Inconclusive

In the October 3rd issue C&E News, there is a nicely reported article by Rick Erickson. It is reported that at the August meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver the group came to grips with how to incorporate the nitrogen cycle into future climate-change models and policies.

For those not familiar with the nitrogen cycle, it involves a very small portion of the 78% nitrogen in the atmosphere. The cycle involves bacteria converting small amounts of this nitrogen into chemical compounds which are used by plants to facilitate growth. When the plants die, other bacteria convert the chemical compounds back into atmospheric nitrogen.

The ACS group has extended the standard nitrogen cycle to include nitrogen oxides, ammonia, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. I'm not sure how they came about this rationalization. However, there's no doubt that very small concentration of these chemical compounds do exist in the atmosphere. The origin may be from actions of lightning and some release to the air by bacteria.

There was the usual mishmash of opinions at the ACS meeting. Some claimed advantages for each of the chemical constituents, while others claimed disadvantages for the same constituent. As expected, the overall conclusion was inconclusive, in regard to any of their effects on weather.

The group discussion involved so much minuscule inflammation, that it appears the main aspects were completely ignored. With respect to global warming, these three constituents contribute parts per million concentrations to the total atmosphere. Since global warming is primarily a matter of the effectiveness of the gas in allowing passage of incoming solar radiation versus restricting heat radiation into the atmosphere, such low concentrations are bound to be insignificant. Perhaps they have some sort of magical powers, yet to be determined.

The bottom line is good news. All of this confusion tends to throw cold water on any attempts to control weather, which would be disastrous in this already weak economy.