Nitrous oxide inside the cells, by a process catalyzed by the enzyme nitrous oxide reductase. Nitrous oxide has significant global warming potential as a greenhouse gas. On a per-molecule basis, considered over a 100-year-period, nitrous oxide has 298 times the atmospheric heat-trapping ability of carbon dioxide (), however, because of its low concentration (less than 1/1000 of that of ), its contribution to the greenhouse effect is less than one-third that of carbon dioxide, and also less than water vapour and methane. On the other hand, since 38% or more of the entering the atmosphere is the result of human activity, and
Recreational use of nitrous oxide Recreational use of nitrous oxide Recreational use of nitrous oxide is the inhalation of nitrous oxide gas for its euphoriant effects. The gas is sometimes called Whippets, Laughing Gas, the Epiphany Drug, or Hippy Crack. In Australia, nitrous oxide bulbs are known as nangs. Nitrous oxide is a dissociative inhalant that can cause analgesia, depersonalisation, derealisation, dizziness, euphoria, and some sound distortion (flanging). In some cases, it may cause slight hallucinations and have a mild aphrodisiac effect. Research has also found that it increases suggestibility and imagination. Inhalation of nitrous oxide for recreational use, with the purpose of causing euphoria