Managing a forgotten greenhouse gas under existing U.S. law: An interdisciplinary analysis

The United States’ legal strategy for addressing climate change in recent years has relied on authority from existing legislation. This has led to measures on a number of different greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide, methane and hydrofluorocarbons. However, one greenhouse gas has been largely forgotten: nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is the third most abundantly emitted greenhouse gas in the U.S. and worldwide, as well as the largest remaining threat to the stratospheric ozone layer. In addition, the nitrogen atoms in nitrous oxide are part of the highly fluid nitrogen cycle where nitrogen atoms transform readily among different chemical forms, each with a unique environmental and human health impact – a process known as the nitrogen cascade. While the science of the nitrogen cascade has been explored for over a decade, there has been little work on the legal implications of this phenomenon. And yet the nitrogen cascade expands the legal options available for controlling nitrous oxide. This paper studies these options in a U.S. context and explores the environmental and economic impacts of enacting them. We determine that the Clean Air Act, and in particular its broad authority for controlling ozone depleting substances, is the most promising legal pathway for regulating nitrous oxide across all major sources. Invoking such authority could generate significant climate and stratospheric ozone benefits over 2015–2030, equivalent to taking 12 million cars permanently off the road, and 100 million chlorofluorocarbon-laden refrigerators out of service. The economic benefits could sum to over $700 billion over 2015–2030, with every$1.00 spent on abating emissions leading to $4.10 in societal benefits. The bulk of these benefits would come from reductions in other forms of nitrogen pollution such as ammonia and nitrate, highlighting the important and multiple co-benefits that could be achieved by abating nitrous oxide emissions. With the Paris Climate Agreement calling for limiting global temperature increases to “well below” two degrees Celsius, all mitigation opportunities across all sectors need to be considered. This paper suggests that nitrous oxide warrants more attention from policy-makers in the U.S. and around the world

Manejo de plantas daninhas na cultura de milho em função do arranjo espacial de plantas e características dos genótipos Weed management in the corn crop through plant spatial arrangement and characteristics of genotypes

Para se obter elevada produtividade de grãos na cultura de milho, é preciso a utilização de práticas de manejo que reduzam o efeito negativo da infestação de plantas daninhas sobre a cultura. As relações de competição entre a cultura de milho e as plantas daninhas são usualmente influenciadas pelo arranjo espacial das plantas da cultura e pelas características morfofisiológicas dos genótipos. Esta revisão de literatura tem o objetivo de discutir a influência do arranjo espacial e das características dos genótipos das plantas de milho nas relações de competição entre a cultura e as plantas daninhas. Em geral, arranjos mais eqüidistantes entre plantas, obtidas pela redução do espaçamento entre fileiras, promovem maior competitividade à cultura. Em adição, genótipos que apresentam alta velocidade de crescimento no início do ciclo e características de planta apropriadas, especialmente estatura, sofrem menos a competição com plantas daninhas.<br>Management practices contribute to reaching high grain yield in corn, which reduce negative effects of weed infestations. The competitive relationship between corn crop and weeds are usually modified by crop plant spatial arrangement and genotype morphophysiological characteristics. This literature review aims to discuss the influence of plant spatial arrangement and corn genotype characteristics in the competition relationship with weeds. Generally, equidistant plant arrangements, achieved through row width reduction, promote greater crop competitivity. Additionally, crop genotypes which present rapid initial growth, and suitable plant characteristics, particularly plant height, can tolerate interspecific plant competition better