ELI5: There is so much discussion about the amount of oxygen and carbon in our atmosphere. But, 80% of our atmosphere is nitrogen. Where does nitrogen fit in the whole circulation process? How is it made, how is it used, and what does it get turned into?

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ELI5: There is so much discussion about the amount of oxygen and carbon in our atmosphere. But, 80% of our atmosphere is nitrogen. Where does nitrogen fit in the whole circulation process? How is it made, how is it used, and what does it get turned into?

Nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere isn't very reactive; from Wikipedia:

The extremely strong triple bond in elemental nitrogen (N≡N), the second strongest bond in any diatomic molecule after carbon monoxide (CO),[2] dominates nitrogen chemistry. This causes difficulty for both organisms and industry in converting N2 into useful compounds, but at the same time means that burning, exploding, or decomposing nitrogen compounds to form nitrogen gas releases large amounts of often useful energy

...

Nitrogen compounds constantly interchange between the atmosphere and living organisms. Nitrogen must first be processed, or "fixed", into a plant-usable form, usually ammonia. Some nitrogen fixation is done by lightning strikes producing the nitrogen oxides, but most is done by diazotrophic bacteria through enzymes known as nitrogenases (although today industrial nitrogen fixation to ammonia is also significant).

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ELI5: There is so much discussion about the amount of oxygen and carbon in our atmosphere. But, 80% of our atmosphere is nitrogen. Where does nitrogen fit in the whole circulation process? How is it made, how is it used, and what does it get turned into?

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