Politics aside, swamps are being drained worldwide and the result is the addition of actual laughing gas - nitrous oxide - into the atmosphere.
New research published this week finds that drained fertile peatlands are adding significant amounts of the gas to our atmosphere, which is actually no laughing matter, because it contributes to both climate change and the destruction of the ozone layer.
"Organic soils, such as fens, swamps, bogs and drained peatlands, make up more than one-tenth of the world's soil nitrogen pool and are a significant global source of laughing gas. They are significant sources of nitrous oxide when drained for cultivation," explained Ülo Mander from the University of Tartu in Estonia.
Researchers from Estonia and the University of Birmingham in the U.K. looked at dozens of peatland sites on every continent except Antarctica for a study published in Nature Communications. The team concluded that conservation of fens and swamps worldwide is called for to reduce the emission of nitrous oxide.
The problem is worsened when fertile swamps, especially in warm and tropical regions, are drained and then irrigated for cultivation.
"Our findings show that artificial drainage will be the primary driver of future changes in laughing gas emission from organic soils," explained lead author Dr. Jaan Paan Pärn, a fellow at the University of Birmingham. "This effect will be more pronounced in tropical regions leading to more nitrous oxide emitted to the atmosphere... Therefore, conservation and restoration of tropical fens and swamp forests should be made a priority to avoid and reduce emissions of this grim laughing gas."
