The Nitrous oxide greenhouse gas receives less attention in the climate change debate because most people don’t know what it is. However, some of us may remember it as the ‘laughing gas’ dentists once used to relax patients. While it previously helped control global temperature, there is now too much of it because of human activity. We explore how this happened, and what we can do as ‘ordinary citizens’ to mitigate the damage.
Where Does Nitrous Oxide Greenhouse Gas Come From?
Like the other main greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, both humans and natural processes produce nitrous oxide. The cardinal natural sources are vegetation and the oceans. These account for 60% of all nitrous oxide emissions.
Agriculture, burning fossil fuel, and industry produce another 38%. Much of the reactive nitrogen compounds we produce cascade through the earth’s soil, waterways and atmosphere. Consequently, nitrous oxide emissions are now almost half as high again as before the first industrial revolution. This is happening at a pace faster than our planet can absorb. They are at the highest level over the last 800,000 years.
Sources of Nitrous Oxide Greenhouse Gas We Could Control
We spoke about the impact of agriculture, burning fossil fuel, and industry previously. Biomass burning, atmospheric deposition (precipitation) and human sewage all make smaller, but significant contributions.
Agriculture causes 67% of human nitrous oxide greenhouse gas. Almost half of this comes directly from fertilizers and livestock manure. While the main indirect causes are runoff / leaching of fertilizers. We need to reconsider the use of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers. We also need to think again about how we treat livestock manure. The worst thing we can do with it is leave it lying in open fields.
The problem escalates with intensive poultry, beef, and dairy farms. Nitrous oxide from burning fossil fuel contributes a further 10% of the nitrous oxide greenhouse gas we should control. This brings us back to the urgency of renewable energy and electric cars.
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Preview Image: Dentist Administering Nitrous Oxide Gas (1894)
