Global cooling wrote their 1971 paper, climatologists had not yet recognized the significance of greenhouse gases other than water vapor and carbon dioxide, such as methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. Early in that decade, carbon dioxide was the only widely studied human-influenced greenhouse gas. The attention drawn to atmospheric gases in the 1970s stimulated many discoveries in subsequent decades. As the temperature pattern changed, global cooling was of waning interest by 1979. A common argument used to dispute the significance of human caused climate change, which TIME Magazine calls the Ice Age Fallacy, is to allege that scientists showed concerns about global
Nitrous oxide used by almost half a million young people at nightspots, festivals, and parties. The legality of that use varies greatly from country to country, and even from city to city in some countries. The major safety hazards of nitrous oxide come from the fact that it is a compressed liquefied gas, an asphyxiation risk, and a dissociative anaesthetic. While relatively non-toxic, nitrous oxide has a number of recognized ill effects on human health, whether through breathing it in or by contact of the liquid with skin or eyes. Nitrous oxide is a significant occupational hazard for surgeons, dentists, and nurses.