Where is nitrous oxide found in nature

Industrial processes also causes nitrous oxide emissions. The two main industrial sources are the production of nitric and adipic acid. Nitric acid is an important ingredient for synthetic fertilizers, while adipic acid is primarily used for making synthetic fibers. In these fires, some of the nitrogen in the biomass and surrounding air is oxidized creating nitrous oxide emissions. Large open fires are mainly used by humans to destroy crop waste and clear land for agricultural or other uses.

While natural wildfires can contribute to this, the great majority of biomass burning is caused by human beings. This creates , tonnes of nitrous oxide per year. Atmospheric deposition is another substantial human source of nitrous oxide emissions. Human activities release nitrogen compounds into the air which eventually falls back down to the Earth's surface.

This provides ecosystems with an extra source of available nitrogen which stimulates nitrifying and denitrifying microbes causing increased emissions. Vapors from fertilizers and smoke from fossil fuel or biomass burning contain reactive nitrogen gases. These gases eventually fall out of the atmosphere because either rain washes them out or they get attached to dust and pollen that settle to the ground.

Atmospheric deposition produces , tonnes of nitrous oxide per year. As with animal waste, human waste is a significant source of nitrous oxide emissions. Sewage plants and septic tanks are used to store and treat wastewater. Bacteria use nitrification and denitrification processes to break down the nitrogen-based organic materials that is found in human waste urea, ammonia, and proteins.

Apart from being created by human activities, nitrous oxide is also released into the atmosphere by natural processes. The Earth's soil, oceans and atmosphere are all natural sources of nitrous oxide emissions. Human sources of nitrous oxide are smaller than natural emissions but they upset the balance in the nitrogen cycle that existed before the Industrial Revolution. The quantity of nitrous oxide produced by natural sources is completely offset by natural sinks and has been for thousands of years.

Before the influence of humans, nitrous oxide levels were quite steady because of this natural balance. The largest natural source of nitrous oxide is from soils under natural vegetation. So the nitrous oxide produced by microbes that break down nitrogen in these soils are considered natural sources. Riparian and tropical rainforest soils are important contributors to this source because they have higher nutrient availability and moisture levels.

This facilitates microbial nitrification and denitrification. Soils under natural vegetation create 6. An important natural source of nitrous oxide emissions comes from the oceans. Nitrous oxide producing microbes living in the ocean create these emissions. Much of the nitrous oxide in the oceans arises from microbial activity in and around sinking particles, such as fecal pellets.

These particles provide the anaerobic conditions necessary for denitrification, a process which creates nitrous oxide as a by-product. Chemical reactions in the atmosphere produce a significant amount of nitrous oxide emissions. Ammonia is a natural occuring gas in the atmosphere. The oceans, manure from wild animals as well as aging and rotting plants form the most important natural sources of ammonia in the air.

The oxidization of ammonia from natural sources creates , tonnes of nitrous oxide per year. Share on Facebook "Main sources of nitrous oxide emissions".

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Four representations chemists use for nitrogen dioxide NO 2. Both NO and NO 2 are formed during high-temperature combustion in the atmosphere, when oxygen combines with nitrogen. The exhaust gases of cars and trucks are major sources of nitrogen oxides, as are the emissions from electrical power generation plants. Nitrogen oxides are at least partially responsible for several types of air pollution.