Belch of laughing gas could heat up our planet

New Scientist: HERE'S one less-than-funny warm-up act. The last ice age may have ended partly because of the release of vast quantities of laughing gas, or nitrous oxide. A similar release could be on the cards later this century, although we cannot predict how much Earth will warm as a result. Europe warmed by 5 °C about 14,500 years ago, towards the end of the last ice age, and ice cores show that this triggered a pulse of nitrous oxide. This sped up the warming process, as the gas has 310 times the warming...

URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528744.000-belch-of-laughing-gas-could-heat-up-our-planet.html