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Approaching Fundamental Limits?

Professor Stephen R. Carpenter of the University of Wisconsin-Madison was named the 2011 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for his outstanding research on lakes. In this exclusive editorial, he presents an argument for phosphorus management. Phosphorus, like freshwater, is essential for life and has no substitutes. All living organisms require phosphorus to carry genetic information and process energy. Phosphorus is a key constituent of bones. Phosphorus is also an important pollutant of freshwater. Phosphorus is the principal driver of algae blooms that cause toxicity, oxygen loss, fish kills and other problems in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers. All of the phosphorus that acts as a water pollutant comes from agriculture. Most of the phosphorus pollution comes directly in erosion and runoff from agricultural fields. Some of the phosphorus pollution comes from human waste that is untreated or insufficiently treated, and of course this phosphorus derives from food produced by agriculture. Yet, phosphorus for fertilising croplands is lacking in some parts of the world. According to some analyses, humanity is approaching peak phosphorus, the time when global reserves of mineable phosphorus begin to decline. How has a limiting factor for life become a serious pollutant? Phosphorus enters the biosphere when rocks become soil. Natural weathering of rocks adds only a small amount of phosphorus to the biosphere each year. Mining for phosphorus used in fertilisers accounts for the vast majority of phosphorus added to the biosphere each year. Mining phosphorus is relatively new in geologic history; almost all of the phosphorus mining has occurred since about 1950. Five countries China, Morocco, South Africa, Jordan and the United States produce about 90 per cent of the worlds mined phosphorus. Mined phosphorus is added to soil to stimulate crop growth. Currently, a bit more than a third of global crop production is fed to livestock. Manure is rich in soluble forms
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Professor Stephen r. carpenter of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the 2011 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate.

of phosphorus that are readily transported in water. Thus runoff of phosphorus from fertiliser and manure has become a major pollutant of freshwater in phosphorus-rich parts of the world. The maximum amount of mined phosphorus that can be applied to earths soils without triggering toxic algae blooms is known as the planetary boundary for phosphorus. Global phosphorus application rates far exceed the planetary boundary, indicating that phosphorus pollution is a problem of global concern. Although the world applies too much phosphorus on average, phosphorus application varies widely from place to place. In North America and Western Europe, applications of fertiliser and manure have substantially enriched soils with phosphorus and thereby caused massive pollution prob-

...humanity is approaching peak phosphorus

lems. Africa is rich in mineable phosphorus reserves, but more than 95 per cent of the phosphorus mined in Africa is exported to other countries. Africas soils have the lowest fertiliser application rates in the world, and most African soils are phosphorus-deficient. Earths supply of mined phosphorus is running out, even as demand for phosphorus grows at around three per year. Existing mines are degrading, as miners are forced to dig deeper and extract phosphorus-bearing rock of lower quality. Some studies indicate that Peak Phosphorus, the time when supplies cannot meet demand, is only a few decades away. Other studies argue that the peak is past, while still others say it is centu-

ries away. While projections are debatable, it is certain that phosphorus is an exhaustible resource with no substitutes. Shortages will occur. Ironically, phosphorus is a dwindling resource that is a major pollutant. Roughly 80 per cent of mined phosphorus is never consumed as food by humans. Instead it is wasted and thereby causes massive damage to freshwaters. Conservation is an obvious solution to waste of phosphorus. Phosphorus can be conserved on the farm, in food distribution and consumption, and in treatment of human waste. On the farm, phosphorus applications should match crop needs, and erosion of phosphorus-rich soil should be minimised. Animal production is a major driver of excess phosphorus application, when manure is applied to soil as a waste product. Treatment technologies that extract phosphorus from animal waste in useful forms can decrease this loss. Lifestyle changes that decrease meat consumption also decrease phosphorus waste. Finally, human waste contains a great deal of phosphorus that can be recycled for use as fertiliser. Phosphorus, like freshwater, is a nonsubstitutable resource that is in short supply. Wasted phosphorus becomes a major pollutant of freshwaters associated with toxic blooms of algae, oxygen depletion, fish kills, disease outbreaks and other serious problems. By recognising that phosphorus is a rare and dwindling resource that should be carefully conserved, we win in two ways: we maintain the supply of a critical mineral fertiliser, and we maintain clean freshwater.

Jeff Miller, University Wisconsin-Madison

Phosphorus:

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FURtheR ReadIng Reconsideration of the planetary boundary for phosphorus. Environmental research Letters 6:014009. carpenter, S. r. and E. M. bennett. 2011. Sustainability Challenges of Phosphorus and Food: Solutions from Closing the Human Phosphorus Cycle. bioscience 61:117-124. childers, D. L., J. corman, M. Edwards, and J. J. Elser. 2011. The story of phosphorus: Global food security and food for thought. global Environmental change 19:292-305. cordell, D., J.-o. Drangert, and S. White. 2009.
Photo: Image 100 Ltd.

Peak phosphorus. Foreign Policy (www.foreignpolicy.com, online 22 April 2010). Elser, J.J. and S. White. 2010.