NEW YORK\u2014As scientists, policymakers and environmental advocates seek to accelerate efforts to address climate change, they\u2019re zeroing in on a pollutant long considered the \u201cforgotten greenhouse gas.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third-largest driver of climate change and the leading source of atmospheric ozone depletion, nitrous oxide was center stage Wednesday night at Climate Week, one of the world\u2019s largest annual events dealing with the climate crisis. The N2O talk, at New York University, focused on the growing impacts of that pollution and the potential levers that could be pulled to curb it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The presentations came amid ongoing bilateral discussions between the U.S. and China\u2014countries that collectively account for about a third of the world\u2019s N2O pollution\u2014on how to reduce these emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is about meeting a moment that nitrous oxide has finally had in terms of both the policy and scientific interest in it,\u201d said David Kanter, an environmental studies professor at NYU and co-chair of a global assessment on nitrous oxide by the United Nations\u2019 Climate and Clean Air Coalition scheduled to be released next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n