Laughing gas `caused end of Ice Age`

Nitrous oxide or laughing gas, as it is generally called, may have brought the last great Ice Age to an end, a new study has revealed.

Scientists have found that large quantities of nitrous oxide appeared in the atmosphere 14,000 years ago and helped Europe warm up by as much as 5C, the Daily Express reported.

Ice core samples taken by researchers from lakes show traces of the nitrous oxide, which has 310 times the warming, potential of carbon dioxide.

Researcher Mirjam Pfieffer, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne told New Scientist that the laughing gas came from plants that blossomed as temperatures increased.