A new study has found that fertiliser and pesticide applications to croplands are now the most important source of sulphur to the environment. Sulphur is a component of acid rain which gained attention in the 1960s and 1970s when scientists linked degradation of forest and aquatic ecosystems across the northeastern US and Europe to fossil fuel emissions from industrial centres often hundreds of kilometres away. This research prompted the Clean Air Act and its Amendments, which regulated air pollution, driving sulphur levels in atmospheric deposition down to low levels today.
The researchers examined trends in sulphur applications across multiple important crops in the US, including corn in the Midwest, sugarcane in Florida, and wine grapes in California. Their models of surface water sulphate export demonstrated that while areas like New England show declining trends in response to recovery from historic atmospheric deposition, sulphate export from agricultural areas is increasing.
The researchers predict that increasing trends will continue in many croplands around the world, including places like China and India that are still working to regulate fossil fuel emissions.
Source: New Food Magazine
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