Publication Date:
2011-02-01
Description:
INTRODUCTION Rising concerns about global warming as a consequence of increased anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have markedly strengthened scientific, political, and even public interest in issues surrounding human-induced climate change. This has resulted in fundamental economic and ecologic debates focusing on greenhouse gas mitigation strategies. Besides H2O vapor, three major trace gases are primary contributors to the greenhouse effect: CO2, N2O, and CH4 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007). Such gases occur naturally in the atmosphere and are fundamental for life on Earth. With the onset of the industrial era, however, human activities, e.g., intensification of and changes in land use, industrial production, and burning of fossil fuel, among others, have resulted in the current atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases significantly exceeding historical levels. In comparison to N2O and CH4, most of the CO2 is emitted by fossil fuel burning. Nevertheless, biogenic CO2 sources contribute about 17.3% to the total greenhouse gas emissions, whereas the overall emissions of N2O and CH4 contribute 7.9 and 14.3%, respectively (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007). Although N2O and CH4 represent a small fraction of the total mass of atmospheric greenhouse gases, they are now receiving considerable attention because of their large global warming potentials of about 300 and 25 times that of CO2, respectively (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007)...
Electronic ISSN:
1539-1663
Topics:
Geosciences
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Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
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