OceanExpert ID : 12846
US Environmental Protection Agency, Risk Management Research, Ohio
USEPA
US Environmental Protection Agency
National Risk Management Research Laboratory
26 W. Martin Luther King Dr.
Cincinnati, Ohio OH 45268
United States
Type
Government
Please login to view email.
Telephone
513-569-7734
Fax
513-569-7620
http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/lrpcd/
Activities
Microbial activity in streams and rivers produces nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, but the importance of these systems in the global nitrous oxide budget is not well known. Most research on nitrous oxide emissions from freshwaters has been conducted in small streams and rivers where microbial activity is largely restricted to the sediments. In an investigation of nitrous oxide emissions from large rivers, EPA researchers from the National Risk Management Research Laboratory found that the water column in the Ohio River produces twice as much nitrous oxide as the river sediments. The new research suggests that current models underestimate the importance of large rivers in the global nitrous oxide budget.