{"id":33537,"date":"2024-06-25T13:39:47","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T19:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futureearth.org\/?p=33537"},"modified":"2024-06-25T13:39:47","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T19:39:47","slug":"global-carbon-project-led-study-shows-nitrous-oxide-emissions-soared-40-percent-from-1980-to-2020-accelerating-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futureearth.org\/2024\/06\/25\/global-carbon-project-led-study-shows-nitrous-oxide-emissions-soared-40-percent-from-1980-to-2020-accelerating-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Carbon Project-Led Study Shows Nitrous Oxide Emissions Soared 40 Percent from 1980 to 2020, Accelerating Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Global agriculture sector \u2013 responsible for 74 percent of human-driven N2O emissions \u2013 must curb use of nitrogen-laden fertilizers<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Emissions of nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span> \u2013 a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide or methane \u2013 continued unabated between 1980 and 2020, a year when more than 10-million metric tons were released into the atmosphere primarily through farming practices, according to a new report led by Boston College scientists for the Global Carbon Project, a Future Earth Global Research Network.<\/p>\n

Agricultural production accounted for 74 percent of human-driven nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0emissions in the 2010s \u2013 attributed primarily to the use of chemical fertilizers and animal waste on croplands \u2013 according to the report \u201cGlobal Nitrous\u00a0Oxide<\/span>\u00a0Budget<\/span>\u00a01980-2020,\u201d published today in the journal\u00a0Earth System Science Data.<\/p>\n

At a time when greenhouse gas emissions must decline to reduce global warming, in 2020 and 2021 nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0flowed into the atmosphere at the fastest rates in history, the international team of researchers reported. On Earth, excess nitrogen contributes to soil, water, and air pollution. In the atmosphere, it depletes the ozone layer, and exacerbates climate change.<\/p>\n

Agricultural emissions reached 8 million metric tons in 2020, a 67 percent increase from the 4.8 million metric tons released in 1980, according to the study, the most comprehensive study of global nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0emissions and sinks produced by a team of 58 researchers from 55 organizations in 15 countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cNitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0emissions from human activities must decline in order to limit global temperature rise to 2\u00b0C as established by the Paris Agreement,\u201d said the report\u2019s lead author, Hanqin Tian, the Schiller Institute Professor of Global Sustainability at Boston College. \u201cReducing nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0emissions is the only solution since at this point no technologies exist that can remove nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0from the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concentration of atmospheric nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0reached 336 parts per billion in 2022, a 25 percent increase over pre-industrial levels that far outpaces predictions previously developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said Tian, director of the Center for Earth System Science and Global Sustainability at BC\u2019s Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis emission increase is taking place when the global greenhouse gasses should be rapidly declining towards net zero emissions if we have any chances to avoid the worst effects of climate change,\u201d said Tian, who coordinated the research on behalf of the Global Carbon Project.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s farmers used 60 million metric tons of commercial nitrogen fertilizers in 1980. By 2020, the sector used 107 million metric tons. That same year, animal manure contributed 101 million metric tons for a combined 2020 usage of 208 million metric tons.<\/p>\n

The unfettered increase in a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential approximately 300 times larger than carbon dioxide, presents dire consequences for the planet.<\/p>\n

Drawing on millions of nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0measurements taken during the past four decades on land and in the atmosphere, freshwater systems, and the ocean, Tian said the researchers have generated the most comprehensive assessment of global nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0to date.<\/p>\n

The researchers examined data collected around the world for all major economic activities that lead to nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0emissions and reported on 18 anthropogenic and natural sources and three absorbent \u201csinks\u201d of global nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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The top 10 nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0emission-producing countries are: China, India, the United States, Brazil, Russia, Pakistan, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey, and Canada, the researchers found.<\/p>\n

Some countries have seen success implementing policies and practices to reduce nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0emissions, according to the report. Emissions in China have slowed since the mid 2010s; as have emissions in Europe during the past few decades.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., agricultural emissions continue to creep up while industrial emissions have declined slightly, leaving overall emissions rather flat. Natural sources of nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0emissions from soil, fresh- and saltwater have remained stable<\/p>\n

Established in 2001, The Global Carbon Project analyzes the impact of human activity on greenhouse gas emissions and Earth systems, producing global\u00a0budgets<\/span>\u00a0for the three dominant greenhouse gasses \u2013 carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 that assess emissions and sinks to inform further research, policy, and international action.<\/p>\n

Improved agricultural practices that limit the use of nitrogen fertilizers and animal waste can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. Tian said there is a need for more frequent assessments so mitigation efforts can target high-emission regions and activities. An improved inventory of sources and sinks will be required if progress is going to be made toward the objectives of the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there have been some successful nitrogen reduction initiatives in different regions, we found an acceleration in the rate of nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0accumulation in the atmosphere in this decade\u201d, said Global Carbon Project Executive Director Josep Canadell, a research scientist at CSIRO, Australia\u2019s national science agency. \u201cThe growth rates of atmospheric nitrous\u00a0oxide<\/span>\u00a0in 2020 and 2021 were higher than any previous observed year and more than 30 percent higher than the average rate of increase in the previous decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_btn title=”Read the Journal Article” shape=”square” color=”pinkPublications” align=”center” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.5194%2Fessd-16-2543-2024|target:_blank”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Global agriculture sector \u2013 responsible for 74 percent of human-driven N2O emissions \u2013 must curb use of nitrogen-laden fertilizers[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Emissions […]<\/p>\n

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