You may all be familiar with greenhouse gases and greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases, as we all know are those gases that absorb and trap the heat from escaping into space. They let the sunlight pass through easily but they trap the reflected heat from escaping and thus, warming the Earth. They have good effect I must say because they keep the Earth warm as it otherwise would be. In other words, they make the Earth liveable. However, high concentrations of these gases can be dangerous as they in general, contribute to global climate change and they destroy the protective ozone layer.
Below are list of these greenhouse gases and their impacts to the environment, which includes their life span and the current "amount" present in our atmosphere.
Water Vapor - is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. It is not directly emitted from human activities but acts in response to already rising temperature. It tends to stay in the lower atmosphere where it absorbs infrared radiation and radiates it back to the surface, causing the temperature to continue to rise.
Ozone - Prior to industrialization, tropospheric ozone was concentrated at 25 parts per billion. Today, it is at approximately 34 parts per billion.
Carbon Dioxide - With high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, plants are unable to keep up by removing it from the air. This gas absorbs and emits infrared radiation contributing significantly to global warming. Human activities increased carbon dioxide production being currently at 388,000 parts per billion.
Methane - Methane is 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide in terms of global warming potential. It has a lifespan of twelve years and currently increased to 1,870 parts per billion from 700 during pre-industrial period.
Nitrous Oxide - has an atmospheric life of 114 years and a global warming potential 298 times stronger than carbon dioxide. It means that it traps heat at a much higher rate than carbon dioxide. This gas is expected to remain one of the largest greenhouse gas emissions in the future.
Chlorofluorocarbons - The Chlorofluorocarbons and Hydrofluorocarbons destroy the protective ozone layer, which shields the Earth from the harmful UV rays. This also warms the lower atmosphere contributing to weather and climate change.
Nitrogen Trifluoride - Contributes to global climate change with an atmospheric life between 550 and 740 years.
Sulfur Hexafluoride - One of the most dangerous greenhouse gases known with an atmospheric lifespan of 3,200 years and global warming potential 23,900 times stronger than carbon dioxide.
Hexafluoroethane - Humans may suffocate around this gas if exposed to high concentrations. It has an atmospheric lifespan of 10,000 years and a global warming potential of 9,200.
Tetrafluoromethane - This has low concentration level so it is not currently believed to have a significant radiative forcing effect, so it leads to a rise in temperature. This is a strong greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change with an atmospheric lifespan of 50,000 years. It is constantly increasing which contributes to global warming however, this does not deplete ozone layer.
Chlorodifluoromethane - This gas contributes to both ozone depletion and global warming.
Dichlorodifluoromethane - has an atmospheric life of approximately 102 years when it is degraded by solar radiation ,which allows this gas to destroy the ozone layer.
I mainly focused on the impacts of these gases, specifically their lifespan and how much of these gases are currently present in the atmosphere because generally speaking, we all know what contributions they do make to our environment which is, the greenhouse effect.
I also did not include description of each and what drives them or what sources they come from so maybe in my next article, I will discuss about that.
Hope you learn something from this! :)
Thanks for reading. ❤️
