Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it’s also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people.
In the The Devil’s Element, Dan Egan shares his investigative research of this vital crop nutrient which is causing toxic algae blooms and “dead zones” in waterways from the coasts of Florida to the Mississippi River basin to the Great Lakes and beyond. Egan also explores the alarming reality that diminishing access to phosphorus poses a threat to the food system worldwide―which risks rising conflict and even war.
Join us when Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan provides an eye-opening account that urges us to pay attention to one of the most perilous but little-known environmental issues of our time on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.