Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 79 posts

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#21

Post by Zababa »

lmilcin wrote: post #17
ben_w wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can greatly reduce production of methane, even if not eliminate it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_emissions

Have you understood what I wrote? Methane is being emitted in a natural process from thawing permafrost. There are vast quantities of organic matter that has been frozen for thousands of years and is now starting getting eaten by bacteria that produce methane. All human-made emissions pale in comparison to natural process. There is no way to turn it off unless you can build a giant AC unit over entire arctic or maybe…

> There is no way to turn it off unless you can build a giant AC unit over entire arctic or maybe you can dig entire siberian soil and send it to Mars.

Not realistic but you could dig part of the soil and put it somewhere sealed, and periodically compress the methane and store it into something.

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#22

Post by bencollier49 »

baybal2 wrote: post #5

The submitter, midnightcity, has a rather peculiar news submission history.

Well observed! I wonder if he's posting them as soon as they appear on the news sites. Quite an efficient way of harvesting karma. Unlike your post (or my response to it, I suspect).

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#23

Post by stinos »

Also interesting to note: the heavy use of nitrogen fertiliser is also one of the reasons for the biodiversity crisis. Which according to some is a problem just as serious as the climate crisis, but is much less reported on in global media. Basic principle for the operation: plants which thrive well on nitrogen (think fast-growing grasses, nettles, ...) get an advantage over other plants (typically slower growing long-living flowering plants) because the fertiliser doesn't simply stay in the location where it gets applied. More uniform vegetation then produces the typical chain reaction (simplified): less insects, less food for birds, less birds, ... So tackling the problem mentioned in the article could have a positive influence both on climate and biodiversity.

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#24

Post by hkt »

stinos wrote: post #23

Also interesting to note: the heavy use of nitrogen fertiliser is also one of the reasons for the biodiversity crisis. Which according to some is a problem just as serious as the climate crisis, but is much less reported on in global media. Basic principle for the operation: plants which thrive well on nitrogen (think fast-growing grasses, nettles, ...) get an advantage over other plants (typically slower growing lon…

It is also worth shouting out the fact that healthy biospheres sequester carbon..

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#25

Post by charbonneau »

esarbe wrote: post #8
dazag wrote: post #2

That's actually pretty interesting. That's been used in almost every agricultural land... Regenerative agriculture may save us from mayhem. We're heading towards extinction if we don't adapt

I agree. Although I'd put it like this: We're racing towards extinction and almost everyone tries to put the pedal to the metal because it benefits them just enough in the short run. Classic tragedy of the commons!

Not me! I drive a Tesla.

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#26

Post by david_draco »

turbinerneiter wrote: post #3

Is this actually forgotten in science or is just not part of the political discussion? I.e. is it included in the models that scientists use to predict global warming?

I thought the usual unit on the usual plots is "equivalent CO2 tons", which includes non-CO2 contributions.

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#27

Post by midnightcity »

bencollier49 wrote: post #22
baybal2 wrote: post #5

The submitter, midnightcity, has a rather peculiar news submission history.

Well observed! I wonder if he's posting them as soon as they appear on the news sites. Quite an efficient way of harvesting karma. Unlike your post (or my response to it, I suspect).

It's just my way of working. I use the pomodoro technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique.

Then I take a break, have a look at the list of alerts of new articles, and read / post whatever I find interesting. Then another block of work. It's effective for me, although it might not work for everyone.

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#28

Post by warvariuc »

stinos wrote: post #23

Also interesting to note: the heavy use of nitrogen fertiliser is also one of the reasons for the biodiversity crisis. Which according to some is a problem just as serious as the climate crisis, but is much less reported on in global media. Basic principle for the operation: plants which thrive well on nitrogen (think fast-growing grasses, nettles, ...) get an advantage over other plants (typically slower growing lon…

Similar logic applies to the case when we would use laser robots to get rid of weeds. It's artificial selection. Are you suggesting we should stop fighting weeds/insects to get better crops?

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#29

Post by FriedrichN »

It may be forgotten in some parts of the world, but certainly not in the Netherlands. Primarily because of the effects of nitrogen deposition on the environment and ammonia/methane in particular. There is basically a stop on building and expansion of agriculture as well as a reduction of the maximum speed on highways.

Re: Nitrous Oxide – A forgotten greenhouse gas

#30

Post by avnigo »

turbinerneiter wrote: post #3

Is this actually forgotten in science or is just not part of the political discussion? I.e. is it included in the models that scientists use to predict global warming?

I had the same thought, but the article clarifies that the problem is in policy:

> But despite its important contribution to climate change, N2O emissions have largely been ignored in climate policies.

Post reply on HN