Skip to content

Climate

The greenhouse gas rising from our fields

Nitrous oxide from fertiliser crops never use. 273 times more warming than CO₂, and still climbing every year.

Calculate your farm's N₂OPartner on N₂O trials

Small gas, huge heat

  • Third most important greenhouse gas
  • Top ozone-depleting emission still released
  • Emissions up 40% from 1980 to 2020
  • Lasts over a century in the air
NNO1 kg of N₂O=273 kg of CO₂
of net warming since industrialisation
~10%of net warming since industrialisation
of human N₂O is from agriculture
60–70%of human N₂O is from agriculture
CO₂e avoidable by 2100 with N₂O action
235 GtCO₂e avoidable by 2100 with N₂O action

IPCC AR6 · UNEP/FAO 2024 · NOAA 2024

A new record every year

+7.1%

more N₂O in the atmosphere in 2025 than in 2001. Not one year went down.

NOAA GML

315320325330335340200120052010201520202025
2025338.9 ppb
Global annual mean N₂O, parts per billion. Hover to read any year.
Global annual mean atmospheric N₂O
Yearppb
2001316.36
2002316.94
2003317.63
2004318.25
2005318.91
2006319.82
2007320.44
2008321.5
2009322.27
2010323.18
2011324.21
2012325.05
2013325.94
2014327.09
2015328.17
2016328.95
2017329.74
2018330.9
2019331.88
2020333
2021334.27
2022335.61
2023336.68
2024337.71
2025338.85

India's nitrogen gap

urea used, 2024–25
38.8 Mturea used, 2024–25
nitrogen reaching crops
30–35%nitrogen reaching crops
CO₂e a year, field N₂O
≈77 MtCO₂e a year, field N₂O
CO₂e saved per 1-point efficiency gain
≈2.3 MtCO₂e saved per 1-point efficiency gain

IPCC Tier-1: kg urea × 46% N × 1% × 44/28 × 273 ≈ 2.0 kg CO₂e per kg urea. Direct field emissions only.

Mongabay India 2026 · Agricultural Research 2022 · IPCC 2019

Where nitrogen goes

Move the slider. Try your acreage.

  • 43% taken up by the crop
  • 31% lost to air: ammonia, N₂ and N₂O
  • 26% lost to water as nitrate
Illustrative split. Air and water losses vary with soil and weather. Only a small share of the gas is N₂O, but it is the share that warms the planet most.
33%, India today60%
Field N₂O from this urea today
21.7 t CO₂e
Urea you could skip for the same crop uptake
2,558 kg 57 bags
Field N₂O avoided
5.0 t CO₂e

kg urea × 46% N × 1% (IPCC EF1) × 44/28 × 273. Shows what better efficiency is worth, not a measured RootMatrix result.

How RootMatrix helps

  • S, Zn and Mg in one dose

    The nutrients crops need to use nitrogen.

  • Won’t wash away

    Held in soil until roots call for it.

  • Less surplus nitrogen

    Less left for microbes to turn into N₂O.

  • Fewer applications

    One product instead of four or five.

NitrogenappliedSZnMgProtein,yieldN₂O,nitrate
Illustration of the mechanism, not a measured RootMatrix result.

Our honest position

Proven science:S, Zn and Mg drive nitrogen use.

Next:measure N₂O on RootMatrix plots.

Salvagiotti et al. 2009 · Mustafa et al. 2022 · Potarzycki et al. 2022

The N₂O field trial, with you

  1. 1Paired plots, with and without RootMatrix
  2. 2Chamber N₂O sampling all season
  3. 3Yield, N uptake, grain zinc
  4. 4Open data for carbon programmes
Partner on the trial

Verra VM0042

  • SDG 13 Climate action
  • SDG 2 Zero hunger
  • SDG 12 Responsible consumption
  • SDG 15 Life on land