Climate alarmists treat fossil fuels as the producers of soot and environmental damage, yet the record is more complicated and quite positive. New research shows nitrogen deposition from the burning of hydrocarbons has helped to expand plant growth and the greening of large parts of the planet.

A nutrient hidden in emissions

A 2026 global analysis published in Ecography examined increased vegetative greening across major ecosystems and found that one of the strongest statistical links was nitrogen deposition, greater even than changes in climate and land use. NASA’s own Earth science material lists the second-largest driver of greening as nitrogen, accounting for 9% of the effect. Increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, also from the use of fossil fuels, account for 70% of greening, according to NASA.

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While often framed as a pollutant, reactive nitrogen, released primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels, has been quietly fertilizing our planet. Although 78% of the atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, it is not in the form that many plants can use.........

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