Image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory (Wikimedia Commons).
While the anthropogenic element of climate change remains a hotly politicized topic and the crisis itself becomes ever more dire, a coalition of scientists spanning a range of disciplines and institutions report that a less frequently mentioned greenhouse gas may have a greater impact on climate change than previously thought.
The term “greenhouse gas” usually brings to mind carbon dioxide or methane and for good reason. Combined, these two gases accounted for seventy-six percent of all greenhouse gases emitted globally in 2010. As such, previous research and discussion on climate change and greenhouse gases have centered around carbon dioxide and methane, leaving other important gases, like nitrous oxide, out of the conversation. To address this gap in understanding, a multinational, multi-disciplinary consortium of researchers combined local and national N