The Effects of Nitrogen on Biodiversity at Niwot Ridge

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Graph of Nitrogen Deposition Click for larger image

Lastly, if Colorado's forests, tundra, and waterways become nitrogen-saturated, the nitrogen-sensitive plankton that fish depend on will die, causing serious harm to Colorado's recreational fishing industry. If plankton populations decrease, so would those of the cutthroat and rainbow trout.

Solving the nitrogen problems will be a formidable task. Back when power plants were discovered as the source of acid rain, their smokestacks were fitted with filters that reduced the problem. But reducing nitrogen pollution is much more complex. There are many more cars than power plants in the world, and correcting the emissions from every one would be difficult and expensive.

Some scientists say the problem can be solved by altering the catalytic converter. Installed in automobiles to cut carbon monoxide emissions, the device inadvertently created a nitrate problem. Ideally, a car's computer tells the converter to take in equal amounts of carbon monoxide and nitrates. The converter then spits it out as carbon dioxide and harmless nitrogen gas in its natural state (N2). But few converters work this smoothly, and nitrates still escape.

Vic Cooper of Colorado's Emissions Technical Center says that the catalytic converter cannot do its job well if the engine is not running the way it should. "The catalytic converter only does its magic of stripping the oxygen from the nitrogen if (the engine is) perfectly tuned," he says. So solving the problem may be as simple as making mechanics aware of how important proper tuning is to controlling pollution.

As of last year, the federal government tightened its standards on engine emissions and required that all automotive computers detect poorly functioning catalytic converters. It's too soon to tell if these measures will be effective. If they're not, an alternative solution may lie in futuristic engines that burn hydrogen, says the Technical Center. The byproduct of the hydrogen engine is water, almost too good to be true, but the technology is only in the earliest stages of development.