The Arctic Emits a Lot of Laughing Gas

Among the most important sources of nitrous oxide (N2O) today, forests and intensely-managed farmlands take the top. They emit huge quantities of the gas, which doesn't make people laugh, but rather cry, on account of the fact that it's one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases being emitted globally. Over the years, researchers have known that the substance comes from trees and farms, but now they've discovered that roughly the same amounts are released in the Arctic regions of the North Pole.

According to a team of scientists from the University of Kuopio, in Finland, led by Maija Repo, that measured emissions from peat circles in northern Russia, the tundra releases 1.2 grams/m2 of N2O, which is the same quantity emitted by trees. This is a major cause of concern, considering the fact that more than 20 percent of the Arctic surface is covered with these formations, on which vegetation is prevented from growing. Because bacteria thus have no competition in processing nitrogen, they create large amounts of unchallenged nitrous oxide, and then release it into the atmosphere.

Although these impressive numbers may seem frightening, it's not in them that the dangers of N2O reside, but in the fact that it persists in the atmosphere for well over 110 years, as opposed to methane, which is also periodically released from the tundra, but which only remains in the air for approximately 10 years. Still, carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered to be the most dangerous greenhouse gas in the world, both in term of emitted levels and decay rate.

With ever-increasing temperatures caused by global warming and climate change, the amounts of N2O emitted in the atmosphere are expected to rise, on account of the fact that peat circles will grow both in number and size due to more soil erosion. That means even less vegetation and more bacteria to synthesize laughing gas, especially in the snow-free season.