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Laughing Gas Is Major Threat To Ozone Layer
Hugh Pickens writes "The Christian Science Monitor reports that according to new research, nitrous oxide, the colorless, sweet-smelling gas with a long history as a medical and dental anesthetic is the next big threat to Earth's protective ozone layer. Its role in destroying ozone has long been recognized, as well as its role as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas but the new study puts nitrous oxide's ability to deplete ozone into numbers comparable to those used for other ozone-depleting gases covered by the 1987 Montreal Protocol. The researchers note that the health of the ozone layer has been improving since the adoption of the protocol and that nitrous oxide looms large today as an artificial destroyer of the ozone layer, in part because the emissions of other harmful chemicals have been so sharply reduced." (Continues.)
"Globally, Earth's ozone layer has thinned by 5 to 6 percent since 1980, before CFCs and their ilk came into wide use, according to Akkihebbal Ravishankara, who led the study. He and his colleagues note that 6 percent may appear to be a small number, but it still can lead to significant effects on organisms at Earth's surface. The researchers did not make any policy recommendations in light of their finding. 'It is not for us to gauge how much risk there is,' says Ravishankara. In any event, Ravishankara says, at the moment researchers could not say with confidence 'how much nitrous oxide comes from where.'"
...at the moment researchers could not say with confidence 'how much nitrous oxide comes from where.'
That would probably be because it isn't regulated. It's actually legal to own despite its recreational properties. As an oxidizer it has many industrial uses. And like all oxidizers, yes, when it gets into the upper atmosphere Bad Things Happen(tm). We may need better methods of containing it (it is a gas at room temperature, of course) when used in an industrial setting, but that's about the extent of what we can do to contain the problem -- it's a very basic chemical with a wide range of applications, many of which aren't amiable to being changed to using another agent.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Nobody's talking about laughing gas, the anesthetic and geek enhancer. They're talking about artificial and natural shit -- let the new round of hilarity begin.
So like 99% of the nitrous you breath in, you end up breathing back out
You waste your $5 that way. Take small breaths, mix it with some air so you can hold it it in longer. SIT DOWN before you fall down. Wrap the balloon end around your finger so you don't slip and lose any. Don't breathe out until you have to.
I'm not sure how much medical usage really can effect the ozone layer, because it is contained by the anesthesia machine and metabolized by the body, meaning it isnt released into the atmosphere
Nope, it appears it's barely metabolized
Yeah. Would you choose a neurosurgeon who pokes around people's brains in his spare time? I wouldn't.
Actually both nitrous and Propofol are valued because they are fast acting and clear very quickly once stopped. Nitrous is generally used pre-mixed 50:50 with oxygen making it quite safe for use in a dentists or doctor's office. Propofol requires much closer monitoring and has higher potential for adverse reactions.
NOx == nitric oxide - this stuff, when hit with sunlight, causes smog - or low level ozone.
N2O == Nitrous oxide - the stuff we are talking about
Don't worry, it's perfectly safe: German made cars are immune to the laughter-inducing effects of nitrous oxide.
More to the point, German drivers are more immune than Americans to having serious accidents. Getting a driver's license in Germany is, I believe far more serious business that over here. As I understand it, there is required rigorous (and expensive) training than we require.
I've even heard it said that, when there's an accident on the autobahn, they don't send ambulances -- they send the meat wagon. High speed accidents are rare, but devastating when they do occur.
Commonly the N2O cylinder itself contains a 50/50 mixture so that even if no additional O2 is mixed in (clogged valve, cylinder goes empty, etc) the patient will be safe. That allows an inexpensive minimalist setup to be perfectly safe.
A similar thing is often done with Helium for balloons so kids won't asphyxiate while changing their voices.
Thanks. As you say, the climate changes naturally. The graph immediately below the one you're talking about shows temperature reconstructions over the last 1000 years that support what you're saying. These natural climate changes establish a range of natural variability, and current measurements show that the climate is now changing much faster than can be attributed to natural causes.
Nitrous in cars is used in Europe all over the place. Your ricer kids use it as much as our Ricer Wannabe kids use it. In fact it seems you guys are starting to pass up our Ricer posers in the use of it. Nitrous is a useful thing, but Honestly most use is some nimrod adding a 50 shot to his 86HP Hundai with stick on vents and hood scoops, then cranks it up to a 100 shot, then a 150 shot and then wonders why he blew his motor up. Real tuners use nitrous in addition to their mods like turbo or Supercharging and actually doing real wrenching on their car.
P.S. most Ricer kids add lighted purge kits os they can shoot nitrous streams into the air to make them look "cool". It's those fools that need it banned first. They haphazardly release it into the atmosphere for "coolness"
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Are you a complete fucktard? Chlorofluorocarbons were most certainly damaging the Earth's ozone layer, and banning those same CFC's is certainly benefiting the ozone layer. All the scientists are saying is that Nitrous Oxide is currently the most damaging pollutant to the ozone layer.
I mean really, there was never any real doubt about the impact on the ozone layer by CFC's, and the scientists are saying that some of the damage to that layer is repairing itself. You can doubt what the end result of a damaged ozone layer would be, but the fact that ozone levels began to rapidly deplete isn't in doubt. Neither is the fact that the ozone layer insulates the surface of the planet from UV-B radiation.
Sorry, but the scientists weren't making it up, and the fact that you are so filled with ass-hat ignorance as to be certain of some bullshit conspiracy among scientists should help to convince anyone on the fence about global warning that people like you are just idiots without a freaking clue.
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
Single-celled life may be ~3 billion years old, but multi-cellular life is ~600 million years old.
We're still searching, but the current level is higher than at any point in at least the past 2 million years. Furthermore, as I mention in the article, the Sun was dimmer in the distant past, and the biosphere was totally different so the sources/sinks of CO2 weren't the same as today. Also, the positions of the continents have a profound effect on the climate, and they move on those timescales. Comparisons across distant geological time are tricky at best.
Because as I mention in the article, that's the age corresponding to EPICA, the deepest antarctic ice core extracted so far.