India Is the World’s 2nd Largest Nitrous Oxide Emitter

As per the journal “Earth System Science Data”, India is the world’s second-largest emitter of nitrous oxide after China.

The major source of these emissions comes from fertiliser, according to a global assessment of N₂O emissions published in the journal Earth System Science Data.
N₂O emissions from human activities have increased by 40% (three million metric tons of N₂O per year) in the past four decades.
Agricultural production using nitrogen fertilizers, such as ammonia, and animal manure contributed 74% of the total anthropogenic N₂O emissions in the last decade.
N₂O emissions from human activities are responsible for 6.4% of the effective radiative forcing of greenhouse gases and have added about 0.1°C to current global warming.

It is also known as laughing gas —a type of short-acting sedative. It’s a colorless, slightly sweet-smelling gas that one can breathe in through a mask or nosepiece.
It is a greenhouse gas that heats up the atmosphere far more than carbon dioxide.
Nitrous oxide stays longer than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and is rising rapidly.

The concentration of atmospheric N₂O reached 336 parts per billion in 2022 which is 25% more than the preindustrial levels.
Whereas, the concentration of carbon dioxide was 417 parts per million in 2022. So, the current level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a thousand times more than that of nitrous oxide.
Anthropogenic N₂O emissions must decline by at least 20% relative to 2019 levels by 2050.” For net zero emission of Paris Agreement (stabilizing global temperatures below 2°C from pre-industrial levels)

Greenhouse gases (also known as GHGs) are gases in the earth’s atmosphere that trap heat.