Air pollution could affect Cape Cod's water quality

Much is made of the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions from thermal combustion engines and power plants, but many people do not know that the cumbustion in these plants is also responsible for an increase in the amount of available fixed nitrogen. Remember that much of the Earth's atmosphere is made of nitrogen gas, but is inert and mostly unavailable to living organisms. Fixing of nitrogen (usually combining nitrogen atoms with either oxygen or hydroge and therefore making it usable by living organisms) occurs naturally when lighting heats the air or when a select group of organisms do it. Well, the combustion of engines and power plants actually releases enough heat energy to fix nitrogen, which eventually precipitates out of the air and acts as fertilizer in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Now you have a primer to understand the Cape Cod article...