why is there a fertilizer shortage?
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I’m not sure if it’s the same fertiliser shortage you’re talking about but there’s a global issue of running out of phosphorus in the next century or so. We dig up phosphorus for use in fertilisers but that’s a finite resource that we’re consuming and eventually we’re going to run out.
The individual atoms of phosphorus get drawn into the plants we grow and eat, then ultimately get passed out as poop and fed into the sewers where it ends up in the sea. The output is massively diluted before it reaches the sea and then becomes even more dilute, the phosphorus atoms being spread out incredibly thinly through the ocean. The phosphorus isn’t strictly gone, it’s still on the planet but it’s now almost impossible to collect.
So we just dig up more phosphorus from the ground and use that as fertiliser. Eventually we’re going to run out and our farming industry has become dependant on it. There are some options for alternative sources, mostly related to poop processing, sewage treatment plants and animal poop processing etc. But our easiest source of phosphorus has a time limit and it’s going to make farming much more expensive when it runs out.
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