Did you seriously upgrade from a CRT monitor to LCD hoping that it was more environmental friendly? Hang on, take a step back. It may have been financially prudent of you to do so since LCDs do consume less power; but environmentally friendly? Just read on.

A recent study has found nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), a chemical which is found in the LCD panels of several electronic devices, to have a global climate impact 17,000 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2). Surprisingly, the Kyoto protocol does not even mention this chemical since it was not an issue at the time the protocol was drafted. Simply put, LCDs werent being made or sold in any sort of large numbers for it to register as a threat.

The chemical is found to stay in the atmosphere for 550 years and there is no force of nature known to remove it. The study has found that this year, nitrogen trifluoride emissions are expected to have an impact equal to Austria's CO2 output.

The highest emissions are being recorded from US , Korea and China - the major manufacturers of LCDs. Make a note of this gas, you are going to be hearing a lot more about it in the future. Seems mankind has no future after all, we can only jump from the frying pan into the fire and larger fires from there on.

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