Word: nitrogen
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...carbon dioxide, once thought to be exclusively responsible for the greenhouse effect, is now known to cause only half the problem. The rest comes from other gases. Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, are not only destroyers of the stratosphere's ozone layer but powerful greenhouse gases as well. So are nitrogen oxides, which are pollutants spewed out of automobile exhausts and power-plant smokestacks. Another greenhouse gas is methane, the primary component of natural gas. Methane is also generated by bacteria living in the guts of cattle and termites, the muck of rice paddies and the rotting garbage in landfills. Each...
...user fee would have benefits beyond forcing a cutback in CO2 emissions. The fuels that generate carbon dioxide also generate other pollutants, like soot, along with nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, the primary causes of acid rain. The CO2 tax would be a powerful incentive for consumers to switch from high-CO2 fuels, such as coal and oil, to power sources that produce less CO2, notably natural gas. When burned, methane generates only half as much CO2 as coal, for example, in producing the same amount of energy...
...planting a "green Great Wall" of grasses, shrubs and trees 4,350 miles across their northern region. In Peru archaeologists have revived a pre- Columbian agricultural system that involves dividing fields into patterns of alternating canals and ridges. The canals ensure a steady supply of water, and the nitrogen-rich sediment that gathers on their floors provides fertilizer for the crops...
Thursday morning, as I sat in front of the television watching NASA technicians worry the Discovery through its countdown, I ate a star for breakfast. The star was in the form of a waffle. It consisted mostly of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen, with a sprinkling of other elements. Except for the hydrogen, those atoms had been forged in a star that exploded and died long before our sun and solar system were born. The hydrogen was made in the big bang that allegedly began the universe. Some astronomers think that it was on dust grains floating in interstellar space...
Soon after the test firing, shuttle managers expect to give the go-ahead to a plan for engineers to cut a hole through the rear wall of Discovery's cargo bay in an effort to reach and repair a nitrogen tetroxide leak...