Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2020 |
Outros Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10451/49638 |
Resumo: | Ammonia and ammonium have received less attention than other forms of air pollution, with limited progress in controlling emissions at UK, European and global scales. By contrast, these compounds have been of significant past interest to science and society, the recollection of which can inform future strategies. Sal ammoniac (nūshādir, nao sha) is found to have been extremely valuable in long-distance trade (ca AD 600–1150) from Egypt and China, where 6–8 kg N could purchase a human life, while air pollution associated with nūshādir collection was attributed to this nitrogen form. Ammonia was one of the keys to alchemy—seen as an early experimental mesocosm to understand the world—and later became of interest as ‘alkaline air’ within the eighteenth century development of pneumatic chemistry. The same economic, chemical and environmental properties are found to make ammonia and ammonium of huge relevance today. Successful control of acidifying SO2 and NOx emissions leaves atmospheric NH3 in excess in many areas, contributing to particulate matter (PM2.5) formation, while leading to a new significance of alkaline air, with adverse impacts on natural ecosystems. Investigations of epiphytic lichens and bog ecosystems show how the alkalinity effect of NH3 may explain its having three to five times the adverse effect of ammonium and nitrate, respectively. It is concluded that future air pollution policy should no longer neglect ammonia. Progress is likely to be mobilized by emphasizing the lost economic value of global N emissions ($200 billion yr−1), as part of developing the circular economy for sustainable nitrogen management. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Air quality, past present and future’. |
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Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich worldAmmonia and ammonium have received less attention than other forms of air pollution, with limited progress in controlling emissions at UK, European and global scales. By contrast, these compounds have been of significant past interest to science and society, the recollection of which can inform future strategies. Sal ammoniac (nūshādir, nao sha) is found to have been extremely valuable in long-distance trade (ca AD 600–1150) from Egypt and China, where 6–8 kg N could purchase a human life, while air pollution associated with nūshādir collection was attributed to this nitrogen form. Ammonia was one of the keys to alchemy—seen as an early experimental mesocosm to understand the world—and later became of interest as ‘alkaline air’ within the eighteenth century development of pneumatic chemistry. The same economic, chemical and environmental properties are found to make ammonia and ammonium of huge relevance today. Successful control of acidifying SO2 and NOx emissions leaves atmospheric NH3 in excess in many areas, contributing to particulate matter (PM2.5) formation, while leading to a new significance of alkaline air, with adverse impacts on natural ecosystems. Investigations of epiphytic lichens and bog ecosystems show how the alkalinity effect of NH3 may explain its having three to five times the adverse effect of ammonium and nitrate, respectively. It is concluded that future air pollution policy should no longer neglect ammonia. Progress is likely to be mobilized by emphasizing the lost economic value of global N emissions ($200 billion yr−1), as part of developing the circular economy for sustainable nitrogen management. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Air quality, past present and future’.The Royal SocietyRepositório da Universidade de LisboaSutton, Mark A.van Dijk, NettyLevy, Peter E.Jones, Matthew R.Leith, Ian D.Sheppard, Lucy J.Leeson, SarahSim Tang, Y.Stephens, AmyBraban, Christine F.Dragosits, UlrikeHoward, Clare M.Vieno, MassimoFowler, DavidCorbett, PaulNaikoo, Mohd IrfanMunzi, SilvanaEllis, Christopher J.Chatterjee, SudiptoSteadman, Claudia E.Móring, AndreaWolseley, Patricia A.2021-09-27T12:49:47Z2020-092020-09-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10451/49638engSutton MA et al. 2020 Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world. Phil.Trans.R.Soc.A 378: 20190315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.031510.1098/rsta.2019.0315info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-11-08T16:53:35Zoai:repositorio.ul.pt:10451/49638Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T22:01:16.942597Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world |
title |
Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world |
spellingShingle |
Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world Sutton, Mark A. |
title_short |
Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world |
title_full |
Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world |
title_fullStr |
Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world |
title_full_unstemmed |
Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world |
title_sort |
Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world |
author |
Sutton, Mark A. |
author_facet |
Sutton, Mark A. van Dijk, Netty Levy, Peter E. Jones, Matthew R. Leith, Ian D. Sheppard, Lucy J. Leeson, Sarah Sim Tang, Y. Stephens, Amy Braban, Christine F. Dragosits, Ulrike Howard, Clare M. Vieno, Massimo Fowler, David Corbett, Paul Naikoo, Mohd Irfan Munzi, Silvana Ellis, Christopher J. Chatterjee, Sudipto Steadman, Claudia E. Móring, Andrea Wolseley, Patricia A. |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
van Dijk, Netty Levy, Peter E. Jones, Matthew R. Leith, Ian D. Sheppard, Lucy J. Leeson, Sarah Sim Tang, Y. Stephens, Amy Braban, Christine F. Dragosits, Ulrike Howard, Clare M. Vieno, Massimo Fowler, David Corbett, Paul Naikoo, Mohd Irfan Munzi, Silvana Ellis, Christopher J. Chatterjee, Sudipto Steadman, Claudia E. Móring, Andrea Wolseley, Patricia A. |
author2_role |
author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author |
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Sutton, Mark A. van Dijk, Netty Levy, Peter E. Jones, Matthew R. Leith, Ian D. Sheppard, Lucy J. Leeson, Sarah Sim Tang, Y. Stephens, Amy Braban, Christine F. Dragosits, Ulrike Howard, Clare M. Vieno, Massimo Fowler, David Corbett, Paul Naikoo, Mohd Irfan Munzi, Silvana Ellis, Christopher J. Chatterjee, Sudipto Steadman, Claudia E. Móring, Andrea Wolseley, Patricia A. |
description |
Ammonia and ammonium have received less attention than other forms of air pollution, with limited progress in controlling emissions at UK, European and global scales. By contrast, these compounds have been of significant past interest to science and society, the recollection of which can inform future strategies. Sal ammoniac (nūshādir, nao sha) is found to have been extremely valuable in long-distance trade (ca AD 600–1150) from Egypt and China, where 6–8 kg N could purchase a human life, while air pollution associated with nūshādir collection was attributed to this nitrogen form. Ammonia was one of the keys to alchemy—seen as an early experimental mesocosm to understand the world—and later became of interest as ‘alkaline air’ within the eighteenth century development of pneumatic chemistry. The same economic, chemical and environmental properties are found to make ammonia and ammonium of huge relevance today. Successful control of acidifying SO2 and NOx emissions leaves atmospheric NH3 in excess in many areas, contributing to particulate matter (PM2.5) formation, while leading to a new significance of alkaline air, with adverse impacts on natural ecosystems. Investigations of epiphytic lichens and bog ecosystems show how the alkalinity effect of NH3 may explain its having three to five times the adverse effect of ammonium and nitrate, respectively. It is concluded that future air pollution policy should no longer neglect ammonia. Progress is likely to be mobilized by emphasizing the lost economic value of global N emissions ($200 billion yr−1), as part of developing the circular economy for sustainable nitrogen management. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Air quality, past present and future’. |
publishDate |
2020 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2020-09 2020-09-01T00:00:00Z 2021-09-27T12:49:47Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10451/49638 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10451/49638 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
Sutton MA et al. 2020 Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world. Phil.Trans.R.Soc.A 378: 20190315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0315 10.1098/rsta.2019.0315 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
The Royal Society |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
The Royal Society |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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1799134560852639744 |