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Ammonia and Life - 3/12/2014 11:07:37 AM

MercTech

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The perception that "organic" and "no artificial fertilizer" is better for you has always been humorous to me.

Back in the 19th century; Malthus predicted that with the current rate of population growth the world would not be able to feed itself by the middle 20th century and civilization would fall.

The reason it didn't was the Haber Process.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process

When you sit down to a meal, consider lifting a glass to the 1918 Novel Prize winner, Fritz Haber. It is possible that without him you would have nothing to eat.

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RE: Ammonia and Life - 3/12/2014 12:21:56 PM

PyrotheClown

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I think that it's Ironic that one of the founding fathers of chemical warfare is one who also made infertile soil thrive with life giving crops

Kinda like how monsantos created such badies as DDT and is now one of the largest agricultural powerhouses the world has ever seen(for better or worse...looking at how they operate,probably worse lol)

It's also Kinda ironic how American farm subsidies killed off alota agricultural start ups in the third world by producing and exporting food at a cost that was lower then the local farmers ever could....

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RE: Ammonia and Life - 3/12/2014 12:23:58 PM

mnottertail

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Malthus was the reason that Carlyle dubbed Economics 'the dismal science'. Malthus was not much of a forward thinker and so was wrong about a great many things.

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RE: Ammonia and Life - 3/12/2014 12:40:22 PM

PyrotheClown

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Speaking of over population,why don't we start bombing third world countries with massive amounts of condoms and birth control,seems like it would save us alota money in the long term ....heck,start bombing some of our own neighborhoods........

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RE: Ammonia and Life - 3/12/2014 2:15:05 PM

DesFIP

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The change you want to see in the world starts with you. So why not get a vasectomy Pyro?

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RE: Ammonia and Life - 3/12/2014 2:16:47 PM

PyrotheClown

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

The change you want to see in the world starts with you. So why not get a vasectomy Pyro?

Don't need one,it seems I'm terminally single lol

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RE: Ammonia and Life - 3/13/2014 12:12:50 AM

MercTech

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quote:

ORIGINAL: PyrotheClown

Speaking of over population,why don't we start bombing third world countries with massive amounts of condoms and birth control,seems like it would save us alota money in the long term ....heck,start bombing some of our own neighborhoods........

Dang, don't you remember the huge uproar when they wanted to give away condoms in secondary schools? Church lady would give you a whoopin'

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RE: Ammonia and Life - 3/13/2014 5:48:08 AM

FrostedFlake

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I've noticed my compost heap grows about a cubic foot a month.

There are 7 or so billion of us.

A cubic foot covers 4 feet, 3" deep.

7 billion x 4 = 28 billion.

The square root of 28 billion is 167332 x 167332

167332 / 5280 = 31.69166666666667 miles square.

Another way to say that is, the human race tosses enough from the kitchen counter to fertilize about 642,791 acres every month. 7,713,492 acres in an annual cycle. At the natural geologic erosion rate, that three inches would take 2100 years to blow away. 7,713,492 x 2100 = 16,198,333,200 acres.

Then there is the leaves and grass from the yard. The leavings of the farm animals. And any fertilizers you might come up with from seaweed, rock dust and assorted chemicals.

Question: At what rate is our farmland eroding? How much energy are we spending on anhydrous ammonia to accomplish that exquisite slow motion eco-crash? And how is it we fail to notice?

I'd like to gently suggest that there are other and perhaps better ways to grow food.

So. Got compost?

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