Global greenhouse gas trends

Atmospheric carbon dioxide is the most talked about greenhouse gas, as it has the greatest long-term impact on the global climate. However, there are other greenhouse gases that get less attention but can still play critical roles in terms of climate change.

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere act almost like a blanket, reducing the amount of heat that gets radiated back out into space. With less heat escaping, more heat is trapped close to the surface, which results in warming. As we keep putting more of these greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the planet continues to warm as the Earth's thermostat gets out of balance.

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Global atmospheric CO2 concentration continues to steadily climb and is now averaging in the 416 ppm range.

However, when we go back hundreds of thousands of years using proxy data, you can clearly see the extreme jump in global CO2 concentration since the start of the industrial revolution.

Unfortunately, the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 has also increased in recent decades, according to the Mauna Loa site.

Methane (CH4)

Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, but is much less abundant in the atmosphere and has a shorter lifespan compared to CO2. Agriculture and the melting of permafrost are two important sources of methane emissions.

Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

Sources of nitrous oxide emissions include agriculture, energy use, industrial processes and waste management.

Nitrous oxide levels are now higher today than at any other time during the last 800,000 years.

Atmospheric sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)

Atmospheric sulfur hexafluoride is the most potent greenhouse gas and even more persistent than atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).

While SF₆ concentrations are about 10 parts per trillion in Earth’s atmosphere and projected to rise, taking into account its greater global warming potential relative to CO₂ brings it to an effective concentration of 240 parts per billion (CO₂ equivalents), which is just about 1,000 times less than the present-day levels of CO₂ of around 410 parts per million, according to Advanced Science News.

Electric power systems are the primary source of this greenhouse gas.

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