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Nitrogen run-off can be a major pollutant in waterways.

It can either be over-fertilization, or cow dung and urine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024564/

https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/sources-and-solutions-....

While nitrogen run-off is a large problem in many parts of the world, that's not what is being referred to here. This is about air pollution from their diesel farm equipment (and likely things like heating systems for greenhouses and animal barns etc.)

I know its confusing but 'the nitrogen problem' does indeed refer to fixed nitrogen run-off pollution

No, it's mostly about ammonia from lifestock.

The "nitrogen" problem is about NO2, NO3 and NH3, where most of the NO is from transport and industry, but the NH3 is from bio industry.

Huge factory-like pig and poultry farms. The ammonia gets in the air, spreads and hugely enriches the soil of nature that can't handle that. And way too much manure that is spread out over grass land and runs off into surface water and groundwater.

We import a lot of animal feed and artificial fertilizer, then the N in those ends up in our nature.

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