Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases have a lot of chemical properties and are eliminated from the atmosphere through a variety of processes over time. The amount of influence each greenhouse gas has on global warming is determined by three fundamental elements. The first is the amount that is present in the atmosphere. Parts per million (ppm), parts per billion (ppb), and parts per trillion (ppt) are used to measure concentrations; 1 ppm for a certain gas. The second factor is its lifetime, or the amount of time it spends in the atmosphere. The third factor is how well it traps heat. This is known as its global warming potential, or GWP, and is a measure of the total energy that a gas absorbs over a specific period of time (typically 100 years) in comparison to the emissions of 1 tonne of carbon dioxide.

What Are Greenhouse Gas Emissions and How Do They Affect You?

Human activities have increased the volume of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere since the commencement of the Industrial Revolution and the introduction of coal-powered steam engines. Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere increased by 40%, methane concentrations by 150%, and nitrous oxide concentrations by 20% between 1750 and 2011. 

We’ve only accelerated in recent decades. From 1750 to 2010, almost half of all man-made carbon dioxide emissions—the most plentiful and longest-lasting greenhouse gas released by human activities—were generated in the previous 40 years alone, owing mostly to fossil fuel combustion and industrial operations. While global greenhouse gas emissions have sometimes plateaued or reduced every year (most recently between 2014 and 2016), they are now rapidly increasing.

Five Significant Greenhouse Gases

The following are the most major gases that contribute to global warming via the greenhouse effect:

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide (CO2), which accounts for roughly 76 percent of worldwide human-caused emissions, is a long-lasting gas. After it is released into the atmosphere, 40% of it is still present after 100 years, 20% after 1,000 years, and 10% after 10,000 years.

Methane

Although methane (CH4) lasts significantly shorter time in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (approximately a decade), it has a much greater warming effect. In fact, over a 100-year period, its global warming impact is 25 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. It accounts for around 16% of global GDP.

N2O (Nitrogen Oxide)

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas with a GWP 300 times that of carbon dioxide on a 100-year time scale, and it lasts a little more than a century in the atmosphere on average. It contributes roughly 6% of global human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Fluorinated Gases are a type of gas that contains fluorine.

Fluorinated gases are produced by a range of manufacturing and industrial operations. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride are the four primary kinds (NF3).

Despite the fact that fluorinated gases are emitted in smaller quantities than other greenhouse gases (about 2% of man-made global greenhouse gas emissions), they trap far more heat.

Vaporized water

Water vapor, the most common greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, differs from other greenhouse gases in that changes in its atmospheric concentrations are linked to the warming caused by the other GHGs we release, instead of human activities directly. More water is held in warmer air. Because water vapour is a greenhouse gas, more water absorbs more heat, leading to even more warming and a positive feedback cycle. (However, because increased water vapour also increases cloud cover, which reflects the sun’s energy away from the earth, the net impact of this feedback loop is still unknown.)

The Greenhouse Effect’s Consequences

Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are higher than ever, greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are fast rising, and the globe is heating up, according to the IPCC. The earth’s average temperature has risen 1.8°F (1.0 degrees Celsius) since preindustrial times, with almost two-thirds of that warming occurring in the last few decades alone. From 2014 to 2018, all five years were the hottest on record globally. If current warming trends continue, global warming is expected to reach 2.7°C above pre industrial limits.

Changes brought about by humans endanger not only flora and wildlife, but also people. Insects that transfer diseases like dengue fever and Zika can thrive in warmer temperatures, and heat waves are becoming more intense and deadly to humans. People may go hungry if our food supply is harmed by droughts and floods; according to a 2011 National Research Council research, agricultural yields will decrease by 5 to 15% for every degree Celsius that the earth warms. Food insecurity has the potential to cause mass migration and political unrest. In January 2019, the Department of Defense issued a report describing the hazards to US military sites and operations around the world as a result of flooding, droughts, and other climate change-related effects.

Conclusion

Currently, the world is up against the additional challenge of an administration that is doubling down on fossil fuel use by rolling back standards aimed at reducing emissions from dirty power plants and cars and trucks (in other words, from the country’s two largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, electricity and transportation).

Despite this, decision makers, companies, leaders, and activists all across the world are adamant that we must act on climate change. A, just as human formed greenhouse gas emissions long ago caused the climatic change we observe now, the emissions we emit now will have a long-term impact on us.