Per Capita Nitrous Oxide Emissions by Sector
Synopsis
- This interactive chart displays the per capita nitrous oxide emissions by sector annually since 1990 for any country or globally.

Teaching Materials
Positives
- This resource clearly shows trends in per capita nitrous oxide emissions over time.
- The data can be viewed in a variety of ways including both animated and static charts and tables.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should know how to read a line graph and be familiar with the term fugitive emissions.
- Students may need some background information about nitrous oxide as a greenhouse gas and an unregulated ozone-depleting substance.
Differentiation
- Cross-curricular connections could be made with geography classes by exploring trends in the location of countries and their per capita nitrous oxide emissions.
- Students could further research nitrous oxide using guiding questions such as:
- How potent is nitrous oxide as a greenhouse gas?
- How is nitrous oxide released from fertilizer and waste lagoons?
- How does fertilizer use contribute to eutrophication and affect water ecosystems?
- How important is nitrous oxide as an ozone-damaging gas?
- How potent is nitrous oxide as a greenhouse gas?
The resource choose a 100-year time scale for the GWP to calculate and normalize these F gases units into a single unit expressed in CO2e This method is appropriate as it considered the residence time of N2O - CO2 emissions per capita from the sectors. In the chart, agriculture appears to emit the highest concentration of N2O globally. The resource is recommended for teaching.
Scientist Reviewed
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