No laughing matter
chlorofluorocarbons (cfcs) are not the only threat to the ozone layer. Nitrous oxide (n2o), also known as laughing gas, has been quietly eating into the layer that screens out harmful ultraviolet radiations. The gas has a tremendous global warming potential, with a heat absorption capacity 250-290 times that of carbon dioxide (co2). With world attention focused on cfcs and co2, the damage caused by n2o has gone unnoticed (see table: Warming over ).
Scientists have estimated that n2o lasts in the atmosphere for about 160 years. That makes its life span the second longest among greenhouse gases