Global Phosphorous Issues

Phosphorus is a crucial element in our world.  It is involved in the make-up of our food, our bodies and is even necessary for the creation and functioning of ATP, the “energy food” for our world.  However, the availability of phosphorus naturally is very limited and as we continue to utilize phosphorus and rely on it for things like agriculture and food production, we seem to be nearing a global crisis regarding phosphorus.  In this blog, I will address the issues and potential problems that we face globally as we continue to utilize and deplete our current phosphorus resources. 

Phosphorus (P) is a key component to in fertilizers that are applied to crops.  Combined with many other essential elements such as nitrogen and potassium, phosphorus is necessary for the growth of plants (Cordell, 2009). Because of many agricultural practices (ex. increased tilling of soil, movement and use of organic matter, etc), we have interrupted the natural cycle of P and decreased much of the nutrients that biologically available in the soil.  This calls for increased use of fertilizers, which in turns requires us to find more phosphorous (the majority of it is now found through mining mineral rich rocks), but as the demand for P increases, so do its prices and cost of extraction, while the availability of the element decreases (Cordell, 2009). 

As population increases globally, the demand for more food expands.  Mass production of food has become a trend and the reliance of these practices on fertilizer and the use of P is threatening the limited global supply of phosphorous that is available.  Not only is the global availability of P limited, the distribution of phosphate rock reserves across the world is extremely imbalanced.  Three countries stand at the head of control of these reserves (China, the U.S. and Morocco), which could ultimately tighten the issues surrounding P, since this could cause political problems to intertwine with natural resource scarcity issues (Cordell, 2009).  Morocco singlehandedly controls almost 40% of the global P reserves and while the U.S. currently amounts to 19% of the global P production, more than half of this is coming from one location in the country (Vaccari, 2009).         

Along with the distribution issues of P, the world faces the problem of resource scarcity.  It’s estimated that within only a few decades, the U.S. may completely deplete its own reserves of P; since it is one of three countries that currently controls the reserves of P, this would not only have a domestic impact, but a large global one as well (Vaccari, 2009).  The U.S. would be able to import from those other reserves, however, this would have a definite impact on price fluctuations and would ultimately lead to an increase in the price of food (and anything else that P is being used for).  Therefore, it would have an effect not only on the level of governments and corporations, but also for the individuals.  Even if the U.S. were able to utilize other reserves once its own were depleted, the global supply of P is expected to be completely threatened within a century or so (Vaccari, 2009). These looming issues call for an immediate need for a global focus on improved agricultural practices and better recycling of our current phosphate supplies. 

                Source: Cordell, D. J.-O. (2009). “The story of phosphorus: Global food security and food for thought.” . Global Environmental Change 19, 292–305

Figure 1: In the 1960s, there was a rapid increase in the amount of phosphate rock being utilized for fertilizers. Although the use of both manure and guano/human excreta increased as well, phosphate rocks spiked at a rate that moved far beyond these other two.

 

                As the graph above implies, around the 1960s-70s, the use of phosphate rock in fertilizers shot up tremendously.  This coincides with the time of the Green Revolution.  Although the Green Revolution had many benefits on our food production around the globe (less food shortages, better yields, better quality food), the negative side effects concerning our global consumption of P are clearly shown in the data above. When a global crisis occurs (such as the food shortages that instigated the onset of the Green Revolution), solutions are necessary and the consequences are not always on the forefront.  Similarly to the affect that the Green Revolution had on the consumption of P, we may see another spike in the demand and use of it very soon.  We are currently facing issues with oil reserves and in an effort to reduce the global reliance on petroleum, there is currently a huge push for alternative methods of energy and fuel.  One of the most prominent and supported ideas is the use of ethanol, specifically corn based ethanol.  It could be a huge step forward in the global oil crisis if we could effectively utilize this method on a global level. However, the consequences must be addressed, as well.  If corn based ethanol becomes a common resource, the demand for corn will grow, which would not only have an effect on the price of corn, but also an effect on the amounts of phosphorous we extract and utilize; as we produce more ethanol, we grow larger amounts of corn, and more P is necessary (under the current agricultural practices) (Vaccari, 2009).  This issue could force the world to make some very important decisions in the near future, as oil reserves continue to deplete and we carry on eliminating the natural environment and reserves of their phosphorus base. 

                It is clear to see that these issues are certainly not singular.  You cannot solve one problem, whether locally, nationally or globally, without having an effect on something else.  The costs and benefits of each decision that we make must be weighed against each other in order to find the best global solutions, not only in the present, but also in the long run.  With that said, it is a necessity that we focus more attention on the growing crisis that surrounds our reliance on P.

Works Cited

Cordell, D. J.-O. (2009). “The story of phosphorus: Global food security and food for thought.” . Global Environmental Change 19, 292–305.

Vaccari, D. (2009). “The phosphorus crisis.“. Scientific American .