What Connects Bones, Bird Poop, and Toxic Green Slime? Hint: Without It, Half of Us Wouldn't Be Alive Today
It\u2019s the 13th element on the periodic table, it glows in the dark, and it spontaneously combusts if it gets any hotter than 80 degrees Fahrenheit; little surprise, then, that phosphorus is known as \u201cthe devil\u2019s element.\u201d But this satanic substance is also essential to all life on earth, which is why it's a key ingredient in fertilizer\u2014without which, researchers estimate, we could only grow enough food for half as many humans as are alive today. The incredible crop-growing powers of phosphorus have led humans to do some pretty extreme things to get it\u2014from seizing Pacific islands to scavenging bones from Europe\u2019s most famous battlefields\u2014but they\u2019ve also created a devilish paradox. The world is running out of phosphorus, and yet there\u2019s way too much of it running off farm fields into rivers, lakes, and oceans, where it fuels toxic algae blooms. This episode, we've got the story behind the phosphorus paradox, as we ask: is there any way to fertilize the planet without sending it to hell?\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices