Researcher evaluates greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural industry
Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas that impacts the Earth's protective ozone layer, and recent research suggests that standard measuring methods tend to underestimate the emissions of nitrous oxide, or N2O, as it relates to agricultural production systems. A new study published this month describes how a system developed by a Colorado State University researcher and federal colleagues gives the most accurate estimate of nitrous oxide emissions in agriculture at the farm, regional and global scales.
"Agriculture is responsible for the majority of human-generated N2O emissions, and without accurate estimates, we are unable to rigorously assess the environmental impacts of biofuel and other cropping systems," said William Parton, senior research scientist at CSU's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory and co-author of the study published in American Geophysical Union's weekly newsletter.
External Link (Today@Colorado State)