Too much meat, too much nitrogen
The human race is responsible for too much nitrogen being produced, which threatens the environment in a number of different ways, all potentially devastating. The primary causes, according to this very interesting BBC article, are the overconsumption of meat and chemical fertilisers used in intensive farming.
Policies to reduce nitrates in water have banned wintertime spreading of farm manures across much of Europe’s farmland. The focus on springtime manure spreading has intensified peak ammonia emissions, giving a new threat to biodiversity and air quality. Most organic gardeners in the West, as yet unrestrained by this governmental stupidity, continue to be well aware that manure is best applied from October through to December. By doing so, its breakdown is much slower and emissions from its decay dramatically reduced when compared to applications from March onwards.
tags: carbon, composting, emissions, environment, global warming, intensive farming, manure, nitrogen, toxicityThe shit that should be and the shit that shouldn’t
“Ere luv, d’you smell sumfink funny?” A disgusting smell described as being akin to sulphur or manure, or a heady mix of both, has been detected in various parts of England and Wales. Although investigations having reached any conclusion yet, the stench is already being blamed on easterly winds bringing farming or industrial odours across the Channel. Does that mean whatever the smell is, Europe has it to deal with all the time?
The Met Office has had had hundreds of calls from the public looking for information about the odour. It’s been described as ‘one of those smells you can taste’ and has prompted nausea as well as panics over the possibility of gas attacks, or fears of dead rotting animals being under floorboards or behind walls.
tags: Fortean, manure, strange, strange smells, sulphur
RIPA NOTICE: NO CONSENT IS GIVEN FOR INTERCEPTION OF PAGE TRANSMISSION