The greenhouse gas you don’t know about

What this episode covers

Eric Davidson, professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and principal scientist at Spark Climate Solutions, explains that nitrous oxide (N2O) is the third most potent anthropogenic greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential 275-300 times that of CO2 and a long atmospheric residence time. He details how the Haber-Bosch process for synthetic fertilizer production and its subsequent application to soil have disrupted the natural nitrogen cycle, making agriculture the primary source of rising N2O emissions. Davidson discusses mitigation strategies ranging from optimizing fertilizer timing and the '4 R's' of application to disruptive innovations like direct nitrogen feed additives for livestock and nitrogen-efficient crop breeding.