Greenhouse Effect and Greenhouse Gases

GREENHOUSEFFECT

Main Greenhouse GasesGreenhouse Gas Chemical

formulaAnthropogenic

sources (examples)

Atmospheric Lifetime (years)

GWP (100 year time horizon)

Carbon Dioxide CO2  Fossil fuel 

combustion, deforestation, 

cement production

50-200 1

Methane  CH4

fossil fuels, landfills, animal 

husbandry

12 21

Nitrous Oxide N2O fertilizer, fossil 

fuel combustion120 310

Fluorinated Gases

various industrial processes 

various  various

Global Warming Potential (GWP) is measure of how much a given mass of greenhouse gas is estimated to contribute to global warming. It is a relative scale which compares the gas to that of the same mass of carbon dioxide (whose GWP is by convention equal to 1). 

Temperature and CO2

Trends

Long-term trends in CO2 concentrations and temperature

Modeled

Observed Temperature

and

Human vs. Natural Influences on Climate

Global and Continental Temperature Change

Projected increase in CO2 concentration

800,000 years of carbon dioxide concentration

Sea Level Rise and Arctic Sea Ice

Change in Mean Global Sea Level

Sea Level Rise

Global mean sea level in past and projected for future

Sea Ice Decline

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions, 1970 to 2004

2006 U.S. GHG Emissions by Source

U.S. Transportation GHGEmissions by Source

Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Country, 1990 and 2008