WARSAW: Laughing gas is, indeed, no laughing matter. The United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) on Thursday released an eye-opening report on the sidelines of the ongoing climate talks, warning that nitrous oxide (N2O) — commonly known as laughing gas — with 300 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide (CO2) poses a major global climate risk.
The report highlighted that the emissions of nitrous oxide — an often overlooked yet potent gas — could nearly double by 2050 and potentially undermine gains in the ozone layer recovery and exacerbate climate change. While NO2 exists naturally in the atmosphere in trace amounts, human activities have increased its concentrations since the industrial revolution. Drawing Down N2O to Protect Climate and the Ozone Layer — the new report by the UNEP — warns that nitrous oxide is now the most important ozone-depleting emission and the third most potent greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere.
The report, produced in conjunction with scientists and experts from more than 35 organizations, points out that it is possible to draw down N2O emissions if there is determination and commitment to act. "Reducing N2O emissions has major cost benefits since emissions are connected to diverse economic sectors from agriculture, chemical manufacturing and electricity production to waste management, transportation and fish production. "Gains from emissions reduction will include increased crop and livestock productivity, poverty alleviation, improved human health and reduced environmental degradation," said the UNEP statement.
An earlier study quoted by the report indicated that an across-the-board improvement in nitrogen use efficiency of 20% would cost around $12 billion annually, but would save around $23 billion in annual fertilizer costs alone. "Additional environmental, climate and human benefits could be worth an estimated US$160 billion per annum," said the statement.
"We need all hands on deck to combat the serious and significant increases in N2O levels in the atmosphere," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP executive director Achim Steiner.
"UNEP is working on a range of fronts to support the international efforts under the UN Climate Convention, from catalyzing the uptake of renewable energies and energy efficiency to adaptation projects in many parts of the globe." "In addition UNEP is working through a myriad of voluntary pathways from accelerating the policy switches towards an inclusive, resource-efficient green economy to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to reduce emissions of climate pollutants such as hydroflourocarbons (HFCs), methane and black carbon," said Steiner.
"Although not as prevalent in the atmosphere as CO2 in terms of mass, N2O is far from a laughing matter in respect to climate and ozone damage as it has a disproportionate impact on global warming because of its radiative properties and long lifetime in the atmosphere, which is 120 years on average. Action on these emissions offer yet another opportunity to keep the world under a 2 degree C temperature rise," he added. Most of the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer up to now has been due to the infamous Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halogenated (chlorine- and bromine-containing) chemicals.
However, these chemicals — unlike N2O — are now widely controlled by the Montreal Protocol, an international Treaty designed to protect the ozone layer.
Agriculture is by far the largest source of human-induced N2O emissions, accounting for two-thirds of these emissions. Meanwhile, other important sources of N2O include industry and fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning and wastewater.
The report lists specific, actionable measures that can be taken in each of these areas.
