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The Southeast Pacific produces more nitrous oxide than previously thought
http://www.geomar.de/index.php?id=4&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5btt_news%5d=3872&tx_ttnews%5bbackPid%5d=185&L=1[font face=Serif]22.06.2015
[font size=5]The Southeast Pacific produces more nitrous oxide than previously thought[/font]
[font size=4]Kieler MeeresforscKiel marine scientists publish new data on greenhouse gas emissionsher weisen höhere natürliche Emissionen nach
22 June 2015/Kiel. In addition to carbon dioxide there are plenty of other greenhouse gases. Nitrous oxide is one of them. However, a global assessment of emissions from the oceans is difficult because the measurement methods used so far have only allowed rough estimates. Using a new technology for continuous measurements, researchers of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel have now discovered that nitrous oxide emissions from the Southeast Pacific are much higher than previously thought. They publish their data in the international journal Nature Gesoscience.[/font]
[font size=3]Originally it became famous as an anesthetic gas used by dentists. However, laughing gas, or chemically correct nitrous oxide, is also found in large quantities in nature and has serious effects on climate: In the lower atmosphere it is a strong greenhouse gas, and in higher layers of the atmosphere it contributes indirectly to the destruction of ozone. “A global assessment of marine nitrous oxide emissions is, however, difficult because we do not know exactly where and how much nitrous oxide is produced," says marine chemist Damian L. Arévalo-Martínez from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. Together with colleagues from GEOMAR and the University of Kiel (CAU), he presents new data in the international scientific journal Nature Geoscience, showing that the Southeast Pacific has been significantly underestimated as a source of nitrous oxide.
…
These new data include, among others, the highest ever measured nitrous oxide concentrations in marine surface waters. “Our estimates revealed that each year about 0.3 to 1.4 megatons of nitrous oxide are emitted to the atmosphere from the oxygen minimum zone in the tropical Southeast Pacific. This is up to a fifth of the estimated marine nitrous oxide emissions worldwide and significantly exceeds similar upwelling areas in other tropical oceans,“ says Arévalo-Martínez.
…
[/font]
[font size=5]The Southeast Pacific produces more nitrous oxide than previously thought[/font]
[font size=4]Kieler MeeresforscKiel marine scientists publish new data on greenhouse gas emissionsher weisen höhere natürliche Emissionen nach
22 June 2015/Kiel. In addition to carbon dioxide there are plenty of other greenhouse gases. Nitrous oxide is one of them. However, a global assessment of emissions from the oceans is difficult because the measurement methods used so far have only allowed rough estimates. Using a new technology for continuous measurements, researchers of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel have now discovered that nitrous oxide emissions from the Southeast Pacific are much higher than previously thought. They publish their data in the international journal Nature Gesoscience.[/font]
[font size=3]Originally it became famous as an anesthetic gas used by dentists. However, laughing gas, or chemically correct nitrous oxide, is also found in large quantities in nature and has serious effects on climate: In the lower atmosphere it is a strong greenhouse gas, and in higher layers of the atmosphere it contributes indirectly to the destruction of ozone. “A global assessment of marine nitrous oxide emissions is, however, difficult because we do not know exactly where and how much nitrous oxide is produced," says marine chemist Damian L. Arévalo-Martínez from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. Together with colleagues from GEOMAR and the University of Kiel (CAU), he presents new data in the international scientific journal Nature Geoscience, showing that the Southeast Pacific has been significantly underestimated as a source of nitrous oxide.
…
These new data include, among others, the highest ever measured nitrous oxide concentrations in marine surface waters. “Our estimates revealed that each year about 0.3 to 1.4 megatons of nitrous oxide are emitted to the atmosphere from the oxygen minimum zone in the tropical Southeast Pacific. This is up to a fifth of the estimated marine nitrous oxide emissions worldwide and significantly exceeds similar upwelling areas in other tropical oceans,“ says Arévalo-Martínez.
…
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The graph shows in the dark blue to violet tones the OMZs in the tropical oceans. They play a major role in the nitrogen cycle. For the SFB 754 they are the main working areas.
