The Earth is running out of phosphorus. Free Technical Library News

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Earth is running out of phosphorus

23.08.2021

An international group of scientists from Denmark and the UK found out that in the near future humanity may face an acute shortage of phosphorus.

Earth is running out of a vital resource
The reason for the shortage of phosphorus, necessary for the production of agricultural products, will be the irrational use of mineral fertilizers, which are washed into the oceans. The lack of phosphorus potentially threatens humanity with starvation. Over the past 50 years, the amount of phosphate fertilizer used has increased 50 times, and by 2050 the demand for them should potentially double.

If nothing is done to conserve phosphorus, its reserves may soon be significantly depleted. Some theoretical models predict that, at current levels of consumption, available phosphorus could disappear in as little as 80 years, causing crop failures. According to more conservative estimates, this will happen in 400 years, but the most pessimistic forecasts point to 40 years.

According to the researchers, the condition for preventing the phosphorus crisis will be the reduction of its use, as well as the development of ways to reuse. Creating a closed recycling system would allow phosphates to be used up to 46 times as fertilizer, fuel or food, but there is no solution to the problem that affects water bodies contaminated with fertilizers.

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