The Phosphorus Conundrum

Issac Asimov described #Phosphorus as “Life’s bottleneck”. There is no life without it. Although it is a common element, only a finite percentage is available to us. Farms use huge amounts of phosphorus - much of which flows into waterways, creating toxic pea soup lakes, and dead zones. We’re wasting an essential mineral, and turning it into a serious problem.

As Isaac Asimov put it “Life can multiply until all the phosphorus has gone and then there is an inexorable halt which nothing can prevent’’

We have to find ways to preserve phosphorus where it’s needed, and to keep it from fostering algae blooms in the water. Instead of replenishing it in large quantities after every harvest, farms need to make use of microbes and certain crops that can keep it in the soil.

Phosphorus, which literally means light bearer, for its phosphorescent quality, gives life, but in the wrong place and in the wrong quantity it’s an environmental hazard.

Professors #StephenPorder of Brown University and Eric Roy of the University of Vermont explain their work on the phosphorous cycle.

For more about Life’ s essential elements , read Stephen’s book
Elemental: How five elements changed Earth's past and will shape our future

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