Nitrous Oxide

Why in news?

• Human emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) increased by 30 per cent between 1980 and 2016, according to a research paper published in Nature

About Nitrous Oxide:

• N2O is a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2).
• It has the third-highest concentration — after CO2 and methane — in our atmosphere among greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
• N2O can live in the atmosphere for up to 125 years.
• Its global concentration levels increased from 270 parts per billion (ppb) in 1750 to 331 ppb in 2018 — a jump of 20 per cent. The growth has been the quickest in the past five decades because of human emissions.
• It is estimated that 30% of the N2O in the atmosphere is the result of human activity, chiefly agriculture and industry.
• Nitrous oxide occurs in small amounts in the atmosphere, but has been found to be a major destroyer of stratospheric ozone, with an impact comparable to that of CFCs.

• The research was conducted through an international collaboration between the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) and the Global Carbon Project of Future Earth, a partner of the World Climate Research Programme.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding Nitrous Oxide:
1.It is both a ozone depleting substance and a green house gas.
2.Nitrous oxide does not occur naturally and emissions are completely anthropogenic. 
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to Prelims Question