Nitrous oxide
Also called: N2O · Topic: Climate Change: Causes, Evidence and the Global Response · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 11 "World Climate and Climate Change"
Meaning
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a long-lived greenhouse gas that stays in the air for more than 100 years. It comes mainly from nitrogen fertilisers and animal manure. Over 100 years it traps about 270 times more heat than the same mass of carbon dioxide (GWP about 270). It also destroys ozone in the stratosphere, the upper layer of air that shields us from harmful ultraviolet rays. So it harms the climate and the ozone layer at the same time.
Example
In the wheat–rice fields of Punjab and Haryana, farmers use a lot of nitrogen fertiliser. Soil microbes turn part of this fertiliser into nitrous oxide, which escapes into the air.
Don't confuse with
- Nitrogen dioxide (NO2): a short-lived pollutant from vehicles that helps form ground-level ozone. N2O is a long-lived greenhouse gas.
- Chlorofluorocarbons: they also trap heat and destroy ozone, but they are factory-made chemicals. N2O comes mostly from farming.
Related concepts
- Greenhouse effect
- Greenhouse gases
- Global warming potential
- Methane
- Chlorofluorocarbons
- Tropospheric ozone
- Carbon sink
- Climate sensitivity
- Carbon budget