Since pre-industrial times, the atmospheric concentration of nitrous oxide (N2O) has increased by 16%. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that has a global warming potential that is 296 times stronger than CO2. In 2000 the total world N2O emissions were estimated at 3,400 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents. In South America the emissions of N2O per capita was almost twice the world average, while the emissions of N2O per capita emissions in Central America and Caribbean were half of the world average. N2O comes from fertilizers and combustion industrial processes.

Year: 2005

From collection: Vital Climate Graphics Latin America and the Caribbean

Cartographer: UNEP/GRID-Arendal