University of California Report:
Kristie Boering studies, which involve analyzing the isotopic fingerprints of nitrous oxide from different sources, could help farmers determine which strategies are most effective. It could also help assess the potential negative impacts of growing crops for biofuels, since some feedstocks may require fertilizer that will generate N2O that offsets their carbon neutrality.
“This new evidence of the budget of nitrous oxide allows us to better predict its future changes– and therefore its impacts on climate and stratospheric ozone depletion – for different scenarios of fertilizer use in support of rising populations and increased production for bio-energy,” said coauthor David Etheridge of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research in Aspendale, Victoria.
University of Berkley full article
Nitrous Oxide Produced by Corn Growing Creates Global Warming
Science News Article:
What all this means, the NOAA scientists say, is that N2O is now a bigger threat to future stratospheric ozone destruction than are CFCs. And if N2O emissions don’t diminish substantially, Ravishankara says, within a century they could eventually slay 40 percent as much stratospheric ozone each year as CFCs did at their peak.
Reporters asked the NOAA team what can and should be done, but the scientists simply argued that finding answers was the responsibility of policymakers. However, Ravishankara observed that because most N2O releases are so diffuse, limiting them will prove much more challenging than simply mandating controls on tailpipes or smokestacks.
The full Science News Article is found here
Corn Plastic Killing Environment
For these reasons the corn base plastic industry has major issues with green house gases, Nitrous oxide is 310 times more potent according to the American Carbon Registry than Co2. Information regarding the green house gases can be found at the US Gas and Sinks. Nitrous Oxide is created by the use of cheap fertilizers by the corn industry.
For more information regarding alternatives to corn based plastic please visit the homepage.
