Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a highly potent greenhouse gas, and its impact on global warming is 300 times larger than that of carbon dioxide (CO2). Once emitted, N2O remains in the atmosphere for more than 100 years. Researchers have found that emissions of the substance, also known as laughing gas, are consistent with scenarios where the global mean temperature would rise by 3C from pre-industrial levels. The 2015 Paris Agreement – a United Nations plan to combat climate change -aims to limit such warming to less than 2C, and ideally no more than 1.5C. The findings, published in the journal Nature, also show N2O emissions have risen 20% from pre-industrial levels in 1750 due to increased farming to feed a rising global population.
The rising use of nitrogen fertilisers within the manufacturing of meals worldwide is rising concentrations of nitrous oxide — a greenhouse gasoline 300 occasions stronger than carbon dioxide — which stays within the ambience longer than a human lifetime. Rising nitrous oxide emissions are jeopardising local weather targets and the Paris Accord, a research printed in Nature, and led by an Auburn University researcher, has discovered.
The study was published in the scientific journal Nature recently and was led by Professor Hanqin Tian at Auburn University in the United States. Scientists from 48 research institutions in 14 countries have contributed to the study, whose goal was to produce the most comprehensive assessment to date of all sources and sinks of N2O.
The research additionally decided that the biggest contributors to world nitrous oxide emissions are nations in East Asia, South Asia, Africa and South America. Emissions from artificial fertilisers dominate releases in China, India and the US, whereas emissions from the appliance of livestock manure as fertiliser dominates releases in Africa and South America, the research discovered. The highest development charges in emissions had been present in rising economies, notably Brazil, China and India, the place crop manufacturing and livestock numbers have elevated.
According to study coauthor Wilfried Winiwarter, a senior research scholar in the IIASA Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases Program and former director of the International Nitrogen Initiative’s European centre, opportunities to reduce nitrous oxide emissions do however exist. “Europe is the only region in the world that has successfully reduced nitrous oxide emissions over the past two decades,” he says. “Industrial and agricultural policies to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution and to optimize fertilizer use efficiencies have proven to be effective. Still, further efforts will be required, in Europe as well as globally.”
Dr Parvadha Suntharalingam, of University of East Anglia’s School of Environmental Sciences, and one of the authors on the study, said: “This study presents the most comprehensive and detailed picture to date, of N2O emissions and their impact on climate. “This new analysis identifies the factors driving the steadily increasing atmospheric levels of N2O, and highlights the urgent need to develop effective mitigation strategies if we are to limit global warming and meet climate goals.”
