Is there some threat to the worlds supply of atmospheric nitrogen?
this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023
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My climate example was poor, I’m sorry. A better example of what I mean is that when we look for habitable planets, our focus is ‘oxygen rich atmosphere’, not ‘nitrogen rich’, though most of our breathable air is nitrogen and too much oxygen will actually kill us.
I suppose because we don’t really use the nitrogen - it’s inert, unlike oxygen which is part of vital respiration. I’m no expert but it’s conceivable some other mix of gases could work as the inert portion besides nitrogen, but oxygen is required. Seems like it would take a lot of luck to find the right concentration though.
Calling it "inert" is misleading. It's involved in all kinds of chemical reactions that are essential for life (and lots of non-biological reactions, too). It's only inert in the sense that most living things can't use it directly from the air and rely on nitrogen-fixing plants and bacteria to make it into molecules we can use.