Serious Laughing Gas

No laughing matter

fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

Containing laughing gas is a serious issue. Though the gas makes up only nine per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions, yet it carries 300 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide, according to a recent study.

Unlike carbon dioxide and methane, laughing gas or nitrous oxide, has been largely ignored as a worrisome greenhouse gas. "It can survive in the atmosphere for 150 years, and it is recognized in the Kyoto Protocol as one of the key gases we need to limit," says David Richardson of the University of East Anglia in Norwich. Richardson presented these findings at the Society for General Microbiology`s 162nd meeting.The potent gas is emanating from waste treatment plants and agriculture. Its release is increasing at the rate of 50 parts per billion or 0.25 per cent every year.

Medically, nitrous oxide is administered as analgesia by some dentists.It has a calming effect and relieves anxiety. There are no lasting effects from the nitrous - within minutes after coming off the gas, all your sensibilities return to normal.