According to the global assessment of N2O emissions study by the Global Carbon Project, emissions of nitrous oxide gas rose by 40 per cent between 1980 and 2020.
- The study was published in the journal Earth System Science Data.
Key highlights
- China (16.7 per cent), India (10.9 per cent), US (5.7 per cent), Brazil (5.3 per cent) and Russia (4.6 per cent) were the top five emitters of the gas more potent than carbon dioxide and methane.
- After China, India is the world’s second largest source of nitrous oxide (N2O). The per capita emissions vary.
- While India has the lowest per capita emission of 0.8 kg N2O/person, the kg N2O/person figures for the other top emitters are China 1.3, US 1.7, Brazil 2.5 and Russia 3.3.
Nitrous oxide (N2O)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas that heats up the atmosphere far more than carbon dioxide. N20 is much less abundant in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide or methane, but its global warming potential is nearly 300 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year time scale.
- The concentration of atmospheric N2O reached 336 parts per billion in 2022 or about 25% above the levels seen before the industrial age.
- Nitrous oxide stays longer in the atmosphere and is rising rapidly, scientists in recent years have been warning that it must also be tackled with a greater sense of urgency.
- High levels of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere can deplete the ozone layer and compound effects of climate change.
- On the earth, excess nitrogen contributes to soil, water and air pollution.
- Agricultural production and livestock rearing were the two key human-driven sources of nitrous oxide.
- In the last decade agricultural production, chiefly owing to the use of nitrogen fertilisers and animal manure, contributed to 74 per cent of the total anthropogenic nitrous oxide emissions.
- Nitrous oxide is also emitted from natural sources such as oceans, inland water bodies and soil. These sources contributed to 11.8 per cent of the global emissions of the gas between 2010 and 2019.
- Agriculture activities and related waste generation, biomass burning, fossil fuels and industries together contributed to around six per cent of the global nitrous oxide emissions in 2010-2019.
