Oversight Board:

1
North American Nitrogen Center
The North American Nitrogen Center is one of five
continental-scale centers of the International
Nitrogen Initiative sponsored by the
International Council of Science (ICSU) through
the Scientific Committee on Problems of the
Environment (SCOPE) and the International
Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP).
Director Bob Howarth, Professor, Cornell
University Associate Director Alan Townsend,
Assoc. Prof., University of Colorado

• Oversight Board

• Donald Boesch, President, Univ. of Maryland
  Center for Env. Sciences
• John Downing, Professor, Iowa State University
• Lynn Goldman, Professor, John Hopkins Bloomberg
  School of Public Health
• Dennis Keeney, Senior Fellow, Inst. for Ag.
  Trade Policy, Minneapolis
• Jerry Melillo, Co-Director, the Ecosystems
  Center, MBL, Woods Hole
• Knute Nadelhoffer, Professor, University of
  Michigan
• Phillip Robertson, Professor, Michigan State
  University
• Donald Scavia, Professor and Director, Michigan
  SeaGrant Program
• David Schindler, Professor, University of
  Alberta
• Peter Vitousek, Professor, Stanford University

(9 November 2004)
2
North American Nitrogen Center
The North American Nitrogen Center is one of five
continental-scale centers of the International
Nitrogen Initiative sponsored by the
International Council of Science (ICSU) through
the Scientific Committee on Problems of the
Environment (SCOPE) and the International
Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP).
The Center was established in 2004 and is still
in early development. It builds on the prior
work of the International SCOPE Nitrogen Project
(1993-2002).
Probable mode of operation

• Consortium of interacting projects with many PIs
  at many institutions and many sources of
  funding.
• Open to community of those interested in N!

(9 November 2004)
3

• The goals of the North American Nitrogen Center
  are
• To better assess the sources of N pollution and
  the drivers of change in N cycling across the
  regions of North America, with an emphasis on
  evaluating trends in fluxes and environmental
  exposure.
• To comprehensively and quantitatively assess
  both the ecological and human-health consequences
  of N pollution in North America.
• To develop policy options for reducing N
  pollution and to encourage large-scale pilot
  studies to test potential policies and technical
  solutions.
• To communicate the issues of human acceleration
  of the N cycle to the public and to decision
  makers, and to facilitate communication and
  interaction among the scientific community.

4

• The goals of the North American Nitrogen Center
  are
• To better assess the sources of N pollution and
  the drivers of change in N cycling across the
  regions of North America, with an emphasis on
  evaluating trends in fluxes and environmental
  exposure.
• emphasize interaction with climate variability
  and change, sinks of N in landscape, fine
  particle fluxes through atmosphere, gaseous dry
  deposition, net nitrogen balance spatially over
  time.
• To comprehensively and quantitatively assess
  both the ecological and human-health consequences
  of N pollution in North America.
• To develop policy options for reducing N
  pollution and to encourage large-scale pilot
  studies to test potential policies and technical
  solutions.
• To communicate the issues of human acceleration
  of the N cycle to the public and to decision
  makers, and to facilitate communication and
  interaction among the scientific community.

5

• The goals of the North American Nitrogen Center
  are
• To better assess the sources of N pollution and
  the drivers of change in N cycling across the
  regions of North America, with an emphasis on
  evaluating trends in fluxes and environmental
  exposure.
• To comprehensively and quantitatively assess
  both the ecological and human-health consequences
  of N pollution in North America.
• Use existing coastal N assessments (extending to
  Canada and Mexico), emphasize other ecological
  effects and human health consequences
• To develop policy options for reducing N
  pollution and to encourage large-scale pilot
  studies to test potential policies and technical
  solutions.
• To communicate the issues of human acceleration
  of the N cycle to the public and to decision
  makers, and to facilitate communication and
  interaction among the scientific community.

6
NOy O3
Austin et al. 2003 (SCOPE Rapid Assessment volume
on element interactions)
NOyO3
??NPP
NH3
?
Climate warming
_
?
C storage
?
?
?? Decomposition



?CH4 uptake
?N20 emission
? NO emission
7
Direct adverse effects Ozone -- respiratory
diseases, asthma NOx -- aggravates
rhinoviral infections Fine particles --
cardiovascular and respiratory
diseases Nitrate in drinking water
methemoglobinemia, reproductive/development
problems, cancer. Indirect effects Pollen
and allergies Eutrophication and cholera? Other
vector borne diseases (encephelitis, West
Nile fever, malaria)?
Townsend et al. (2003) Frontiers in Ecology
and Environment 1 240-246

8
Direct adverse effects Ozone -- respiratory
diseases, asthma NOx -- aggravates
rhinoviral infections Fine particles --
cardiovascular and respiratory
diseases Nitrate in drinking water
methemoglobinemia, reproductive/development
problems, cancer. Indirect effects Pollen
and allergies Eutrophication and cholera? Other
vector borne diseases (encephelitis, West
Nile fever, malaria)?
Townsend et al. (2003) Frontiers in Ecology
and Environment 1 240-246

Evidence for cancer risk at nitrate ppm Weyer et al. 2001, Epidemiology 12
327-338 non-Hodgkins lymphoma Ward et
al. 1996, Epidemiology 7 465-471
bladder and ovarian cancer Van Mannen et al.
1996, Env. Health Persp. 104 522-528
nitrosamine production in gut
9

• The goals of the North American Nitrogen Center
  are
• To better assess the sources of N pollution and
  the drivers of change in N cycling across the
  regions of North America, with an emphasis on
  evaluating trends in fluxes and environmental
  exposure.
• To comprehensively and quantitatively assess
  both the ecological and human-health consequences
  of N pollution in North America.
• To develop policy options for reducing N
  pollution and to encourage large-scale pilot
  studies to test potential policies and technical
  solutions.
• Continue to develop watershed model for decisions
  makers to test N-reduction scenarios
• Provide science technical support for N
  reductions in large watersheds (Susquehanna
  River, emphasizing N deposition and sink
  management tributaries of Mississippi River,
  emphasizing agricultural sources)
• To communicate the issues of human acceleration
  of the N cycle to the public and to decision
  makers, and to facilitate communication and
  interaction among the scientific community.

10

• The goals of the North American Nitrogen Center
  are
• To better assess the sources of N pollution and
  the drivers of change in N cycling across the
  regions of North America, with an emphasis on
  evaluating trends in fluxes and environmental
  exposure.
• To comprehensively and quantitatively assess
  both the ecological and human-health consequences
  of N pollution in North America.
• To develop policy options for reducing N
  pollution and to encourage large-scale pilot
  studies to test potential policies and technical
  solutions.
• To communicate the issues of human acceleration
  of the N cycle to the public and to decision
  makers, and to facilitate communication and
  interaction among the scientific community.
• Publish article in Scientific American on causes
  and consequences of human acceleration of N
  cycle
• Participate in US and Canadian policy groups,
  such as the Oceans Caucus
• Prepare white papers or road maps on
  potential solutions.

11
North American Nitrogen Center
The North American Nitrogen Center is one of five
continental-scale centers of the International
Nitrogen Initiative sponsored by the
International Council of Science (ICSU) through
the Scientific Committee on Problems of the
Environment (SCOPE) and the International
Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP).
Participation from interested scientific
community is welcome! Contact us at
nitrogen_at_cornell.edu