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{{Short description|Gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation at thermal infrared wavelengths}} {{Short description|Gas in an atmosphere with certain absorption characteristics}}
{{Pp-move}} {{Pp-move}}
{{Pp-pc}} {{Pp-pc}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{about|the physical properties of greenhouse gases|how human activities are adding to greenhouse gases|Greenhouse gas emissions}}

] that results when sunlight heats the Earth's surface. Three important greenhouse gases are shown symbolically in this image: ], ], and ].]] ] that results when sunlight heats the Earth's surface. Three important greenhouse gases are shown symbolically in this image: ], ], and ].]]
], along with other factors. ]] ] of global warming that has happened so far. Future ] for long lived drivers like carbon dioxide emissions is not represented. Whiskers on each bar show the possible ]. ]]
'''Greenhouse gases''' ('''GHGs''') are the ]es in the ] that raise the surface temperature of ]s such as the ]. What distinguishes them from other gases is that they ] the ] that a ], resulting in the ].<ref name="AR6WG1annexVII">{{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=J.B.R. |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_AnnexVII.pdf |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |last2=Möller |first2=V. |last3=van Diemenn |first3=R. |last4=Fuglesvedt |first4=J.R. |date=2021-08-09 |publisher=] / ] |editor-last1=Masson-Delmotte |editor-first1=Valérie |editor-link1=Valérie Masson-Delmotte |pages=2215–2256 |chapter=Annex VII: Glossary |doi=10.1017/9781009157896.022 |isbn=9781009157896 |display-authors=etal |editor-last2=Zhai |editor-first2=Panmao |editor-link2=Panmao Zhai |editor-last3=Pirani |editor-first3=Anna |editor-last4=Connors |editor-first4=Sarah L. |editor-last5=Péan |editor-first5=Clotilde |display-editors=etal |doi-access=free}}</ref> The Earth is warmed by sunlight, causing its surface to ], which is then mostly absorbed by greenhouse gases. Without greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the average temperature of ] would be about {{convert|-18|°C|°F}},<ref name="NASACO2" /> rather than the present average of {{convert|15|°C|°F}}.<ref name="Trenberth2003" /><ref name=":0">Le Treut, H., R. Somerville, U. Cubasch, Y. Ding, C. Mauritzen, A. Mokssit, T. Peterson and M. Prather, 2007: "". In: "". . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.</ref> '''Greenhouse gases''' ('''GHGs''') are the gases in the ] that raise the surface temperature of ]s such as the Earth. What distinguishes them from other gases is that they ] the ] that a ], resulting in the ].<ref name="AR6WG1annexVII">{{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=J.B.R. |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_AnnexVII.pdf |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |last2=Möller |first2=V. |last3=van Diemenn |first3=R. |last4=Fuglesvedt |first4=J.R. |date=2021-08-09 |publisher=] / ] |editor-last1=Masson-Delmotte |editor-first1=Valérie |editor-link1=Valérie Masson-Delmotte |pages=2215–2256 |chapter=Annex VII: Glossary |doi=10.1017/9781009157896.022 |isbn=9781009157896 |display-authors=etal |editor-last2=Zhai |editor-first2=Panmao |editor-link2=Panmao Zhai |editor-last3=Pirani |editor-first3=Anna |editor-last4=Connors |editor-first4=Sarah L. |editor-last5=Péan |editor-first5=Clotilde |display-editors=etal |doi-access=free}}</ref> The Earth is warmed by sunlight, causing its surface to ], which is then mostly absorbed by greenhouse gases. Without greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the average temperature of ] would be about {{convert|-18|°C|°F}},<ref name="NASACO2" /> rather than the present average of {{convert|15|°C|°F}}.<ref name="Trenberth2003" /><ref name=":0">Le Treut, H., R. Somerville, U. Cubasch, Y. Ding, C. Mauritzen, A. Mokssit, T. Peterson and M. Prather, 2007: "". In: "". . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.</ref>


The most abundant greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, listed in decreasing order of average global ], are:<ref>{{cite web |date=2016-08-01 |title=Atmospheric Concentration of Greenhouse Gases |url=https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-08/documents/print_ghg-concentrations-2016.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019134514/https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-08/documents/print_ghg-concentrations-2016.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2021 |access-date=6 September 2021 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |title=Inside the Earth's invisible blanket. |url=http://sequestration.org/science/greenhousegases.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728231450/http://sequestration.org/science/greenhousegases.html |archive-date=28 July 2020 |access-date=March 5, 2021 |website=sequestration.org |publisher=<!--Not stated--> |quote=}}</ref> ] ({{chem|H|2|O}}), ] ({{chem|CO|2}}), ] ({{chem|CH|4|}}), ] ({{chem|N|2|O}}), ] ({{chem|O|3|}}), ]s (CFCs and ]), ] (HFCs), ] (], ], etc.), ], and ]. Yet, while water vapor is a potent greenhouse gas, humans are not directly adding to its concentrations,<ref name=":3">{{cite web |author=Gavin Schmidt |date=2010-10-01 |title=Taking the Measure of the Greenhouse Effect |url=https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/2010_schmidt_05/ |publisher=NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies - Science Briefs}}</ref> so it is not one of the primary drivers of ], but rather one of the ].<ref name="h2o">{{cite web |title=NASA Science Mission Directorate article on the water cycle |url=http://nasascience.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/ocean-earth-system/ocean-water-cycle |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117143544/http://nasascience.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/ocean-earth-system/ocean-water-cycle |archive-date=17 January 2009 |access-date=2010-10-16 |publisher=Nasascience.nasa.gov}}</ref> On the other hand, carbon dioxide is causing about three quarters of ] and can take thousands of years to be fully absorbed by the ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data |date=12 January 2016 |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency |url=https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Climate Change Indicators: Greenhouse Gases |date=16 December 2015 |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency |url=https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases |quote=Carbon dioxide's lifetime cannot be represented with a single value because the gas is not destroyed over time, but instead moves among different parts of the ocean–atmosphere–land system. Some of the excess carbon dioxide is absorbed quickly (for example, by the ocean surface), but some will remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years, due in part to the very slow process by which carbon is transferred to ocean sediments.}}</ref> Methane causes most of the remaining warming and lasts in the atmosphere for an average of 12 years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Understanding methane emissions |publisher=International Energy Agency |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2023/understanding-methane-emissions}}</ref> The five most abundant greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, listed in decreasing order of average global ], are:<ref>{{cite web |date=2016-08-01 |title=Atmospheric Concentration of Greenhouse Gases |url=https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-08/documents/print_ghg-concentrations-2016.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019134514/https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-08/documents/print_ghg-concentrations-2016.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2021 |access-date=6 September 2021 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |title=Inside the Earth's invisible blanket. |url=http://sequestration.org/science/greenhousegases.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728231450/http://sequestration.org/science/greenhousegases.html |archive-date=28 July 2020 |access-date=March 5, 2021 |website=sequestration.org |publisher=<!--Not stated--> |quote=}}</ref> ], ], ], ], ]. Other greenhouse gases of concern include ]s (CFCs and ]), ] (HFCs), ], ], and ]. Water vapor causes about half of the greenhouse effect, acting in response to other gases as a ].<ref name=":3">{{cite web |author=Gavin Schmidt |date=2010-10-01 |title=Taking the Measure of the Greenhouse Effect |url=https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/2010_schmidt_05/ |publisher=NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Science Briefs}}</ref>


Human activities since the beginning of the ] (around 1750) have increased ] concentrations by over 150% and ],<ref>{{cite web |title=Understanding methane emissions |publisher=International Energy Agency |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2023/understanding-methane-emissions |quote=The concentration of methane in the atmosphere is currently over two-and-a-half times greater than its pre-industrial levels}}</ref><ref name="NOAA2022">{{cite web |title=Carbon dioxide now more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels |url=https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/carbon-dioxide-now-more-than-50-higher-than-pre-industrial-levels |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=30 August 2022 |language=en |date=3 June 2022}}</ref> up to a level not seen in over 3 million years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide |first1= Rebecca |last1=Lindsey |title=Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide |website=climate.gov |access-date=2020-03-02 |archive-date=24 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624204311/https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide |url-status=live}}</ref> The vast majority of carbon dioxide emissions by humans come from the ] of ]s, principally ], ] (including ]) and ]. Additional contributions come from ] manufacturing, ] production, and changes in ] like ].<ref>Canadell, J.G., P.M.S. Monteiro, M.H. Costa, L. Cotrim da Cunha, P.M. Cox, A.V. Eliseev, S. Henson, M. Ishii, S. Jaccard, C. Koven, A. Lohila, P.K. Patra, S. Piao, J. Rogelj, S. Syampungani, S. Zaehle, and K. Zickfeld, 2021: . In . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 673–816, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.007.</ref>{{rp|687}}<ref name="EPA_GHGdata">{{cite web |date=12 January 2016 |title=Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data |url=https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205123907/https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data |archive-date=5 December 2019 |access-date=30 December 2019 |publisher=] |quote=The burning of coal, natural gas, and oil for electricity and heat is the largest single source of global greenhouse gas emissions.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=AR4 SYR Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers 2 Causes of change |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/syr/en/spms2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228235005/http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/syr/en/spms2.html |archive-date=28 February 2018 |access-date=9 October 2015 |work=ipcc.ch}}</ref> ] originate ], fossil fuel production, waste, and other sources.<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Methane Tracker 2023 |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2023 |publisher=International Energy Agency}}</ref> Human activities since the beginning of the ] (around 1750) have increased ],<ref name="NOAA2022">{{cite web |date=3 June 2022 |title=Carbon dioxide now more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels |url=https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/carbon-dioxide-now-more-than-50-higher-than-pre-industrial-levels |access-date=30 August 2022 |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |language=en}}</ref> and methane levels by 150%.<ref>{{cite web |title=Understanding methane emissions |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2023/understanding-methane-emissions |publisher=International Energy Agency |quote=The concentration of methane in the atmosphere is currently over two-and-a-half times greater than its pre-industrial levels}}</ref> Carbon dioxide emissions are causing about three-quarters of ], while ] cause most of the rest.<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data |date=12 January 2016 |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency |url=https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data}}</ref> The vast majority of ] by humans come from the burning of ]s,<ref name="EPA_GHGdata">{{cite web |date=12 January 2016 |title=Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data |url=https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205123907/https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data |archive-date=5 December 2019 |access-date=30 December 2019 |publisher=] |quote=The burning of coal, natural gas, and oil for electricity and heat is the largest single source of global greenhouse gas emissions.}}</ref> with remaining contributions from ] and ].<ref name=":1">Canadell, J.G., P.M.S. Monteiro, M.H. Costa, L. Cotrim da Cunha, P.M. Cox, A.V. Eliseev, S. Henson, M. Ishii, S. Jaccard, C. Koven, A. Lohila, P.K. Patra, S. Piao, J. Rogelj, S. Syampungani, S. Zaehle, and K. Zickfeld, 2021: . In . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 673–816, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.007.</ref>{{rp|687}} ] originate from agriculture, fossil fuel production, waste, and other sources.<ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=Global Methane Tracker 2023 |date=21 February 2023 |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2023 |publisher=International Energy Agency}}</ref> The ] takes thousands of years to fully absorb {{CO2}} from the atmosphere,<ref>{{cite web |title=Climate Change Indicators: Greenhouse Gases |date=16 December 2015 |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency |url=https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases |quote=Carbon dioxide's lifetime cannot be represented with a single value because the gas is not destroyed over time, but instead moves among different parts of the ocean–atmosphere–land system. Some of the excess carbon dioxide is absorbed quickly (for example, by the ocean surface), but some will remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years, due in part to the very slow process by which carbon is transferred to ocean sediments.}}</ref> while methane lasts in the atmosphere for an average of only 12 years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Understanding methane emissions |publisher=International Energy Agency |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2023/understanding-methane-emissions}}</ref>


According to ], average ] has risen by more than {{convert|1.2|C-change}} since the pre-industrial (1850–1899) period as a result of ]. If current emission rates continue then temperature rises will surpass {{convert|2.0|C-change}} sometime between 2040 and 2070, which is the level the ]' ] (IPCC) says is "dangerous".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-04|title=Analysis: When might the world exceed 1.5C and 2C of global warming?|url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-when-might-the-world-exceed-1-5c-and-2c-of-global-warming|access-date=2021-06-17|website=Carbon Brief|language=en|archive-date=6 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606135004/https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-when-might-the-world-exceed-1-5c-and-2c-of-global-warming|url-status=live}}</ref> ] happen between the atmosphere, ]s, the ocean, and ]s. These flows have been fairly balanced over the past 1 million years,<ref>{{cite web |title=Climate Change Indicators: Atmospheric Concentrations of Greenhouse Gases |url=https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-atmospheric-concentrations-greenhouse-gases |website=EPA.gov |date=27 June 2016 |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |access-date=20 June 2024}}</ref> although greenhouse gas levels have varied widely in ]. Carbon dioxide levels are now higher than they have been for 3 million years.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Lindsey |first1=Rebecca |title=Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide |url=https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624204311/https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide |archive-date=24 June 2013 |access-date=2020-03-02 |website=climate.gov}}</ref> If current emission rates continue then global warming will surpass {{convert|2.0|C-change}} sometime between 2040 and 2070. This is a level which the ] (IPCC) says is "dangerous".<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|date=2020-12-04|title=Analysis: When might the world exceed 1.5C and 2C of global warming?|url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-when-might-the-world-exceed-1-5c-and-2c-of-global-warming|access-date=2021-06-17|website=Carbon Brief|language=en|archive-date=6 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606135004/https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-when-might-the-world-exceed-1-5c-and-2c-of-global-warming|url-status=live}}</ref>


{{TOC limit|3}} {{TOC limit|3}}


== Properties == == Properties and mechanisms ==
]s of ]. The largest absorption band of carbon dioxide is not far from the maximum in the ] from ground, and it partly closes the window of transparency of water—explaining carbon dioxide's major heat-trapping effect.]] ]s of ]. The largest absorption band of carbon dioxide is not far from the maximum in the ] from ground, and it partly closes the window of transparency of water—explaining carbon dioxide's major heat-trapping effect.]]
Greenhouse gases are ] active, meaning that they absorb and emit ] in the same long wavelength range as what is emitted by the Earth's surface, clouds and atmosphere.<ref name="AR6_WGI_AnnexVII">IPCC, 2021: . In . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2215–2256, ].</ref>{{rp|2233}} Greenhouse gases are ] active, meaning that they absorb and emit ] in the same long wavelength range as what is emitted by the Earth's surface, clouds and atmosphere.<ref name="AR6_WGI_AnnexVII">IPCC, 2021: . In . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2215–2256, ].</ref>{{rp|2233}}


99% of the Earth's dry atmosphere (excluding ]) is made up of ] ({{chem|N|2}}) (78%) and ] ({{chem|O|2}}) (21%). Because their ]s contain ], they have no asymmetry in the ],<ref name="Archer2011Ch4" /> and so are ] by infrared thermal radiation,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wei |first1=Peng-Sheng |last2=Hsieh |first2=Yin-Chih |last3=Chiu |first3=Hsuan-Han |last4=Yen |first4=Da-Lun |last5=Lee |first5=Chieh |last6=Tsai |first6=Yi-Cheng |last7=Ting |first7=Te-Chuan |date=6 October 2018 |title=Absorption coefficient of carbon dioxide across atmospheric troposphere layer |journal=] |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=e00785 |doi=10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00785 |pmid=30302408 |pmc=6174548 |bibcode=2018Heliy...400785W }}</ref> with only an extremely minor effect from ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Höpfner |first1=M. |last2=Milz |first2=M. |last3=Buehler |first3=S. |last4=Orphall |first4=J. |last5=Stiller |first5=G. |date=24 May 2012 |title=The natural greenhouse effect of atmospheric oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) and nitrogen (N<sub>2</sub>) |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |language=en |volume=39 |issue=L10706 |doi=10.1029/2012GL051409 |bibcode=2012GeoRL..3910706H |s2cid=128823108 |issn=1944-8007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Which Gases Are Greenhouse Gases? |url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/climatescience/greenhousegases/whichgases.html |access-date=2021-05-31 |publisher=American Chemical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Höpfner |first1=M. |last2=Milz |first2=M. |last3=Buehler |first3=S. |last4=Orphall |first4=J. |last5=Stiller |first5=G. |date=24 May 2012 |title=The natural greenhouse effect of atmospheric oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) and nitrogen (N<sub>2</sub>) |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |language=en |volume=39 |issue=L10706 |doi=10.1029/2012GL051409 |bibcode=2012GeoRL..3910706H |issn=1944-8007 |s2cid=128823108}}</ref> A further 0.9% of the atmosphere is made up by ] (Ar), which is ], and so completely transparent to thermal radiation. On the other hand, ] (0.04%), ], ] and even less abundant ]es account for less than 0.1% of Earth's atmosphere, but because their molecules contain atoms of different elements, there is an asymmetry in ] which allows ]s to interact with electromagnetic radiation. This makes them infrared active, and so their presence causes ].<ref name="Archer2011Ch4">{{cite book |last1=Archer |first1=David |url=http://forecast.uchicago.edu/chapter4.pdf |title=Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast, Chapter 4: Greenhouse Gases |date=2011 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0470943410 |edition=2 |access-date=14 June 2023}}</ref> 99% of the Earth's dry atmosphere (excluding ]) is made up of ] ({{chem|N|2}}) (78%) and ] ({{chem|O|2}}) (21%). Because their ]s contain ], they have no asymmetry in the ],<ref name="Archer2011Ch4" /> and so are ] by infrared thermal radiation,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wei |first1=Peng-Sheng |last2=Hsieh |first2=Yin-Chih |last3=Chiu |first3=Hsuan-Han |last4=Yen |first4=Da-Lun |last5=Lee |first5=Chieh |last6=Tsai |first6=Yi-Cheng |last7=Ting |first7=Te-Chuan |date=6 October 2018 |title=Absorption coefficient of carbon dioxide across atmospheric troposphere layer |journal=] |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=e00785 |doi=10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00785 |doi-access=free |pmid=30302408 |pmc=6174548 |bibcode=2018Heliy...400785W |issn = 2405-8440 }}</ref> with only an extremely minor effect from ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Höpfner |first1=M. |last2=Milz |first2=M. |last3=Buehler |first3=S. |last4=Orphall |first4=J. |last5=Stiller |first5=G. |date=24 May 2012 |title=The natural greenhouse effect of atmospheric oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) and nitrogen (N<sub>2</sub>) |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |language=en |volume=39 |issue=L10706 |doi=10.1029/2012GL051409 |bibcode=2012GeoRL..3910706H |s2cid=128823108 |issn=1944-8007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Which Gases Are Greenhouse Gases? |url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/climatescience/greenhousegases/whichgases.html |access-date=2021-05-31 |publisher=American Chemical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Höpfner |first1=M. |last2=Milz |first2=M. |last3=Buehler |first3=S. |last4=Orphall |first4=J. |last5=Stiller |first5=G. |date=24 May 2012 |title=The natural greenhouse effect of atmospheric oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) and nitrogen (N<sub>2</sub>) |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |language=en |volume=39 |issue=L10706 |doi=10.1029/2012GL051409 |bibcode=2012GeoRL..3910706H |issn=1944-8007 |s2cid=128823108}}</ref> A further 0.9% of the atmosphere is made up by ] (Ar), which is ], and so completely transparent to thermal radiation. On the other hand, ] (0.04%), ], ] and even less abundant ]es account for less than 0.1% of Earth's atmosphere, but because their molecules contain atoms of different elements, there is an asymmetry in ] which allows ]s to interact with electromagnetic radiation. This makes them infrared active, and so their presence causes ].<ref name="Archer2011Ch4">{{cite book |last1=Archer |first1=David |url=http://forecast.uchicago.edu/chapter4.pdf |title=Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast, Chapter 4: Greenhouse Gases |date=2011 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0470943410 |edition=2 |access-date=14 June 2023}}</ref>


===Radiative forcing=== ===Radiative forcing===
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] ]s of primary greenhouse gases. Water vapor absorbs over a broad range of wavelengths. Earth emits thermal radiation particularly strongly in the vicinity of the carbon dioxide 15-micron absorption band. The relative importance of water vapor decreases with increasing altitude.]] ] ]s of primary greenhouse gases. Water vapor absorbs over a broad range of wavelengths. Earth emits thermal radiation particularly strongly in the vicinity of the carbon dioxide 15-micron absorption band. The relative importance of water vapor decreases with increasing altitude.]]


Earth absorbs some of the radiant energy received from the sun, reflects some of it as light and reflects or radiates the rest back to space as ]. A planet's surface temperature depends on this balance between incoming and outgoing energy. When ] is shifted, its surface becomes warmer or cooler, leading to a variety of changes in global climate.<ref name="epa ggas">{{cite web |year=2016 |title=Climate Change Indicators in the United States - Greenhouse Gases |url=https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827230238/https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases |archive-date=27 August 2016 |access-date=5 September 2020 |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)}}.</ref> ''Radiative forcing'' is a metric calculated in ]s per square meter, which characterizes the impact of an external change in a factor that influences climate. It is calculated as the difference in top-of-atmosphere (TOA) energy balance immediately caused by such an external change<!--,without taking the eventual adjustment processes in the troposphere or surface time to respond to reduce the imbalance.{{explain|January 2024}}--> A positive forcing, such as from increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, means more energy arriving than leaving at the top-of-atmosphere, which causes additional warming, while negative forcing, like from ]s forming in the atmosphere from ], leads to cooling.<ref name="AR6_WGI_AnnexVII" />{{rp|2245}}<ref name="epa cforce">{{cite web |year=2016 |title=Climate Change Indicators in the United States - Climate Forcing |url=https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-climate-forcing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827223551/https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-climate-forcing |archive-date=27 August 2016 |access-date=5 September 2020 |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921073951/https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-08/documents/print_climate-forcing-2016.pdf|date=21 September 2020}}</ref> Earth absorbs some of the radiant energy received from the sun, reflects some of it as light and reflects or radiates the rest back to space as ]. A planet's surface temperature depends on this balance between incoming and outgoing energy. When ] is shifted, its surface becomes warmer or cooler, leading to a variety of changes in global climate.<ref name="epa ggas">{{cite web |year=2016 |title=Climate Change Indicators in the United States Greenhouse Gases |url=https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827230238/https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases |archive-date=27 August 2016 |access-date=5 September 2020 |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)}}.</ref> ''Radiative forcing'' is a metric calculated in watts per square meter, which characterizes the impact of an external change in a factor that influences climate. It is calculated as the difference in top-of-atmosphere (TOA) energy balance immediately caused by such an external change.<!--,without taking the eventual adjustment processes in the troposphere or surface time to respond to reduce the imbalance.{{explain|January 2024}}--> A positive forcing, such as from increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, means more energy arriving than leaving at the top-of-atmosphere, which causes additional warming, while negative forcing, like from ]s forming in the atmosphere from ], leads to cooling.<ref name="AR6_WGI_AnnexVII" />{{rp|2245}}<ref name="epa cforce">{{cite web |year=2016 |title=Climate Change Indicators in the United States Climate Forcing |url=https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-climate-forcing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827223551/https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-climate-forcing |archive-date=27 August 2016 |access-date=5 September 2020 |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921073951/https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-08/documents/print_climate-forcing-2016.pdf|date=21 September 2020}}</ref>


Within the lower atmosphere, greenhouse gases exchange thermal radiation with the surface and limit radiative heat flow away from it, which reduces the overall rate of upward radiative heat transfer.<ref name="Wallace2006">{{cite book |last1=Wallace |first1=J. M. |last2=Hobbs |first2=P. V. |title=Atmospheric Science |date=2006 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-732951-2 |edition=2}}</ref>{{rp|139}}<ref name="Manabe1964">{{cite journal |last1=Manabe |first1=S. |last2=Strickler |first2=R. F. |title=Thermal Equilibrium of the Atmosphere with a Convective Adjustment |journal=J. Atmos. Sci. |date=1964 |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=361–385 |doi=10.1175/1520-0469(1964)021<0361:TEOTAW>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=1964JAtS...21..361M |doi-access=free }}</ref> The increased concentration of greenhouse gases is also cooling the upper atmosphere, as it is much thinner than the lower layers, and any heat re-emitted from greenhouse gases is more likely to travel further to space than to interact with the fewer gas molecules in the upper layers. The upper atmosphere is also shrinking as the result.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hatfield |first=Miles |date=30 June 2021 |title=NASA Satellites See Upper Atmosphere Cooling and Contracting Due to Climate Change |url=https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-satellites-see-upper-atmosphere-cooling-and-contracting-due-to-climate-change/ |publisher=] }}</ref> Within the lower atmosphere, greenhouse gases exchange thermal radiation with the surface and limit radiative heat flow away from it, which reduces the overall rate of upward radiative heat transfer.<ref name="Wallace2006">{{cite book |last1=Wallace |first1=J. M. |last2=Hobbs |first2=P. V. |title=Atmospheric Science |date=2006 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-732951-2 |edition=2}}</ref>{{rp|139}}<ref name="Manabe1964">{{cite journal |last1=Manabe |first1=S. |last2=Strickler |first2=R. F. |title=Thermal Equilibrium of the Atmosphere with a Convective Adjustment |journal=J. Atmos. Sci. |date=1964 |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=361–385 |doi=10.1175/1520-0469(1964)021<0361:TEOTAW>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=1964JAtS...21..361M |doi-access=free }}</ref> The increased concentration of greenhouse gases is also cooling the upper atmosphere, as it is much thinner than the lower layers, and any heat re-emitted from greenhouse gases is more likely to travel further to space than to interact with the fewer gas molecules in the upper layers. The upper atmosphere is also shrinking as the result.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hatfield |first=Miles |date=30 June 2021 |title=NASA Satellites See Upper Atmosphere Cooling and Contracting Due to Climate Change |url=https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-satellites-see-upper-atmosphere-cooling-and-contracting-due-to-climate-change/ |publisher=] }}</ref>
<!-- Naming these effects contributes to a full understanding of the role of greenhouse gases. However, these effects are of secondary importance when it comes to understanding global warming. It is important to focus on top-of-atmosphere energy balance in order to correctly reason about global warming. It has been argued that the ''surface budget fallacy'', in which focus on the surface energy budget leads to faulty reasoning, constitutes a common fallacy when thinking about the greenhouse effect and global warming.<ref name="PierrehumbertTextbook">{{cite book |last1=Pierrehumbert |first1=Raymond T. |title=Principles of Planetary Climate |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-86556-2}}</ref>{{rp|413}} <!-- Naming these effects contributes to a full understanding of the role of greenhouse gases. However, these effects are of secondary importance when it comes to understanding global warming. It is important to focus on top-of-atmosphere energy balance to correctly reason about global warming. It has been argued that the ''surface budget fallacy'', in which focus on the surface energy budget leads to faulty reasoning, constitutes a common fallacy when thinking about the greenhouse effect and global warming.<ref name="PierrehumbertTextbook">{{cite book |last1=Pierrehumbert |first1=Raymond T. |title=Principles of Planetary Climate |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-86556-2}}</ref>{{rp|413}}


==== Chemical process contributions to radiative forcing ==== ==== Chemical process contributions to radiative forcing ====
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A second type of indirect effect happens when chemical reactions in the atmosphere involving these gases change the concentrations of greenhouse gases. For example, the destruction of ]s (NMVOCs) in the atmosphere can produce ozone. The size of the indirect effect can depend strongly on where and when the gas is emitted.<ref name="forsteretal">{{cite book |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar4/wg1/changes-in-atmospheric-constituents-and-radiative-forcing/ |contribution=2.10.3 Indirect GWPs |title=Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing |series=Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |author=Forster, P. |access-date=2012-12-02 |display-authors=etal |archive-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209125821/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar4/wg1/changes-in-atmospheric-constituents-and-radiative-forcing/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A second type of indirect effect happens when chemical reactions in the atmosphere involving these gases change the concentrations of greenhouse gases. For example, the destruction of ]s (NMVOCs) in the atmosphere can produce ozone. The size of the indirect effect can depend strongly on where and when the gas is emitted.<ref name="forsteretal">{{cite book |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar4/wg1/changes-in-atmospheric-constituents-and-radiative-forcing/ |contribution=2.10.3 Indirect GWPs |title=Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing |series=Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |author=Forster, P. |access-date=2012-12-02 |display-authors=etal |archive-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209125821/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar4/wg1/changes-in-atmospheric-constituents-and-radiative-forcing/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


NMVOCs include a large variety of chemically different compounds, such as ], ], ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{Citation|last1=Nesaratnam|first1=Suresh T.|title=Section 2: Meteorology and Air Pollutants|date=2014|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118863886.ch2|work=Air Quality Management|pages=15–98|place=Chichester, UK|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|access-date=|last2=Taherzadeh|first2=Shahram|last3=Barratt|first3=Rod|doi=10.1002/9781118863886.ch2 |isbn=9781118863886 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Essentially, NMVOCs are identical to ]s (VOCs), but with methane excluded.<ref>{{Cite web|title=System of Registries |publisher=US EPA|url=https://sor.epa.gov/sor_internet/registry/termreg/searchandretrieve/glossariesandkeywordlists/search.do?details=&vocabName=Glossary%20Climate%20Change%20Terms&filterTerm=nmvoc&checkedAcronym=false&checkedTerm=false&hasDefinitions=false&filterTerm=nmvoc&filterMatchCriteria=Contains|access-date=|website=sor.epa.gov }}</ref> Methane is excluded in ] contexts because it is not toxic. It is however a very potent greenhouse gas, with low reactivity and thus a long lifetime in the atmosphere.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9780470988657|title=Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere|date=2007|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-0-470-98865-7|editor-last=Koppmann|editor-first=Ralf|location=Oxford, UK |doi=10.1002/9780470988657}}</ref> An important subset of NMVOCs are the non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs). The same process that converts NMVOCs to carbon dioxide can also lead to the formation of tropospheric ozone. ]s have an indirect effect because they destroy stratospheric ozone. Finally, ] can lead to ozone production and {{chem|CH|4}} increases as well as producing stratospheric water vapor.<ref name="forsteretal" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/hydrogen-twice-as-powerful-a-greenhouse-gas-as-previously-thought-uk-government-study/2-1-1200115|title=Hydrogen 'twice as powerful a greenhouse gas as previously thought': UK government study|date=8 April 2022|website=Recharge &#124; Latest renewable energy news}}</ref> --> NMVOCs include a large variety of chemically different compounds, such as ], ], ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{Citation|last1=Nesaratnam|first1=Suresh T.|title=Section 2: Meteorology and Air Pollutants|date=2014|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118863886.ch2|work=Air Quality Management|pages=15–98|place=Chichester, UK|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|access-date=|last2=Taherzadeh|first2=Shahram|last3=Barratt|first3=Rod|doi=10.1002/9781118863886.ch2 |isbn=9781118863886 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Essentially, NMVOCs are identical to ]s (VOCs), but with methane excluded.<ref>{{Cite web|title=System of Registries |publisher=US EPA|url=https://sor.epa.gov/sor_internet/registry/termreg/searchandretrieve/glossariesandkeywordlists/search.do?details=&vocabName=Glossary%20Climate%20Change%20Terms&filterTerm=nmvoc&checkedAcronym=false&checkedTerm=false&hasDefinitions=false&filterTerm=nmvoc&filterMatchCriteria=Contains|access-date=|website=sor.epa.gov }}</ref> Methane is excluded in ] contexts because it is not toxic. It is however a very potent greenhouse gas, with low reactivity and thus a long lifetime in the atmosphere.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9780470988657|title=Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere|date=2007|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-0-470-98865-7|editor-last=Koppmann|editor-first=Ralf|location=Oxford, UK |doi=10.1002/9780470988657}}</ref> An important subset of NMVOCs are the non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs). The same process that converts NMVOCs to carbon dioxide can also lead to the formation of tropospheric ozone. ]s have an indirect effect because they destroy stratospheric ozone. Finally, ] can lead to ozone production and {{chem|CH|4}} increases as well as producing stratospheric water vapor.<ref name="forsteretal" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/hydrogen-twice-as-powerful-a-greenhouse-gas-as-previously-thought-uk-government-study/2-1-1200115|title=Hydrogen 'twice as powerful a greenhouse gas as previously thought': UK government study|date=8 April 2022|website=Recharge &#124; Latest renewable energy news}}</ref> -->


== Contributions of specific gases to the greenhouse effect ==
===Global warming potential (GWP) and CO2 equivalents===
{{Main|Greenhouse effect}}Anthropogenic changes to the natural greenhouse effect are sometimes referred to as the ''enhanced greenhouse effect''.<ref name="AR6_WGI_AnnexVII" />{{rp|2223}}
{{excerpt|Global warming potential}}


== Contributions of specific gases to the greenhouse effect ==
{{Main|Greenhouse effect}}
=== Overall greenhouse effect ===
This table shows the most important contributions to the overall greenhouse effect, without which the average temperature of ] would be about {{convert|-18|°C|°F}},<ref name="NASACO2">{{Cite web |title= Science Briefs: Greenhouse Gases: Refining the Role of Carbon Dioxide |url=http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/ma_01/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050112211604/http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/ma_01/ |archive-date=2005-01-12 |access-date=2016-04-26 |website=NASA GISS |author1=Qiancheng Ma |date=March 1998 }}</ref> instead of around {{convert|15|°C|°F}}.<ref name="Trenberth2003">{{cite journal |vauthors=Karl TR, Trenberth KE |year=2003 |title=Modern global climate change |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1230878 |via=Zenodo |s2cid-access=free |url-status=live |journal=Science |volume=302 |issue=5651 |pages=1719–23 |bibcode=2003Sci...302.1719K |doi=10.1126/science.1090228 |pmid=14657489 |s2cid=45484084 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422194919/https://zenodo.org/record/1230878 |archive-date=22 April 2021 |access-date=26 July 2019}}</ref> This table also specifies ''tropospheric'' ], because this gas has a cooling effect in the ], but a warming influence comparable to ] and ] in the ].<ref>{{cite web |date=2016-08-01 |title=Atmospheric Concentration of Greenhouse Gases |url=https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-08/documents/print_ghg-concentrations-2016.pdf |publisher=]}}</ref> This table shows the most important contributions to the overall greenhouse effect, without which the average temperature of ] would be about {{convert|-18|°C|°F}},<ref name="NASACO2">{{Cite web |title= Science Briefs: Greenhouse Gases: Refining the Role of Carbon Dioxide |url=http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/ma_01/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050112211604/http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/ma_01/ |archive-date=2005-01-12 |access-date=2016-04-26 |website=NASA GISS |author1=Qiancheng Ma |date=March 1998 }}</ref> instead of around {{convert|15|°C|°F}}.<ref name="Trenberth2003">{{cite journal |vauthors=Karl TR, Trenberth KE |year=2003 |title=Modern global climate change |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1230878 |via=Zenodo |s2cid-access=free |url-status=live |journal=Science |volume=302 |issue=5651 |pages=1719–23 |bibcode=2003Sci...302.1719K |doi=10.1126/science.1090228 |pmid=14657489 |s2cid=45484084 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422194919/https://zenodo.org/record/1230878 |archive-date=22 April 2021 |access-date=26 July 2019}}</ref> This table also specifies ''tropospheric'' ], because this gas has a cooling effect in the ], but a warming influence comparable to ] and ] in the ].<ref>{{cite web |date=2016-08-01 |title=Atmospheric Concentration of Greenhouse Gases |url=https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-08/documents/print_ghg-concentrations-2016.pdf |publisher=]}}</ref>


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|} |}


==== Water vapor ==== === Special role of water vapor ===

] ]


Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas overall, being responsible for 41-67% of the greenhouse effect,<ref name="kiehl197" /><ref name="Schmidt2010paper" /> but its global concentrations are not directly affected by human activity. While local water vapor concentrations can be affected by developments such as ], it has little impact on the global scale due to its short ] of about nine days.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 April 1995 |title=AGU Water Vapor in the Climate System |url=http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/pubs/astclim/espas/pwv/mockler.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020163357/http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/pubs/astclim/espas/pwv/mockler.html |archive-date=20 October 2012 |access-date=2011-09-11 |publisher=Eso.org}}</ref> Indirectly, an increase in global temperatures cause will also increase water vapor concentrations and thus their warming effect, in a process known as water vapor feedback. It occurs because ] establishes that more water vapor will be present per unit volume at elevated temperatures.<ref name="Held&Soden2000">{{Cite journal |last1=Held |first1=Isaac M. |last2=Soden |first2=Brian J. |date=November 2000 |title=Water vapor feedback and global warming |journal=] |language=en |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=441–475 |citeseerx=10.1.1.22.9397 |doi=10.1146/annurev.energy.25.1.441 |issn=1056-3466 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Thus, local atmospheric concentration of water vapor varies from less than 0.01% in extremely cold regions and up to 3% by mass in saturated air at about 32&nbsp;°C.<ref>{{cite book |author=Evans, Kimberly Masters |url=https://archive.org/details/environment00kimm_0 |title=The environment: a revolution in attitudes |publisher=Thomson Gale |year=2005 |isbn=978-0787690823 |location=Detroit |chapter=The greenhouse effect and climate change |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=DdtzAAAACAAJ}} |url-access=registration}}</ref> Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas overall, being responsible for 41–67% of the greenhouse effect,<ref name="kiehl197" /><ref name="Schmidt2010paper" /> but its global concentrations are not directly affected by human activity. While local water vapor concentrations can be affected by developments such as ], it has little impact on the global scale due to its short ] of about nine days.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 April 1995 |title=AGU Water Vapor in the Climate System |url=http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/pubs/astclim/espas/pwv/mockler.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020163357/http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/pubs/astclim/espas/pwv/mockler.html |archive-date=20 October 2012 |access-date=2011-09-11 |publisher=Eso.org}}</ref> Indirectly, an increase in global temperatures cause will also increase water vapor concentrations and thus their warming effect, in a process known as water vapor feedback. It occurs because ] establishes that more water vapor will be present per unit volume at elevated temperatures.<ref name="Held&Soden2000">{{Cite journal |last1=Held |first1=Isaac M. |last2=Soden |first2=Brian J. |date=November 2000 |title=Water vapor feedback and global warming |journal=] |language=en |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=441–475 |citeseerx=10.1.1.22.9397 |doi=10.1146/annurev.energy.25.1.441 |issn=1056-3466 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Thus, local atmospheric concentration of water vapor varies from less than 0.01% in extremely cold regions and up to 3% by mass in saturated air at about 32&nbsp;°C.<ref>{{cite book |author=Evans, Kimberly Masters |url=https://archive.org/details/environment00kimm_0 |title=The environment: a revolution in attitudes |publisher=Thomson Gale |year=2005 |isbn=978-0787690823 |location=Detroit |chapter=The greenhouse effect and climate change |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=DdtzAAAACAAJ}} |url-access=registration}}</ref>

===Global warming potential (GWP) and {{CO2}} equivalents===
{{excerpt|Global warming potential}}


=== Concentrations and other characteristics of greenhouse gases === == List of all greenhouse gases ==
] Global Monitoring Laboratory/Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref>]] ] Global Monitoring Laboratory/Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref>]]
Anthropogenic changes to the natural greenhouse effect are sometimes referred to as the ''enhanced greenhouse effect''.<ref name="AR6_WGI_AnnexVII" />{{rp|2223}} The contribution of each gas to the enhanced greenhouse effect is determined by the characteristics of that gas, its abundance, and any indirect effects it may cause. For example, the direct radiative effect of a mass of methane is about 84 times stronger than the same mass of carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame.<ref name="TableOfWarmingPotentials5">{{cite book |title=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report |page=731 |chapter=Appendix 8.A |access-date=6 November 2017 |chapter-url=http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013100414/http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf |archive-date=13 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Since the 1980s, greenhouse gas forcing contributions (relative to year 1750) are also estimated with high accuracy using IPCC-recommended expressions derived from ]s.<ref name="butmon2">{{Cite web |author=Butler J. and Montzka S. |year=2020 |title=The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/aggi.html |publisher=] Global Monitoring Laboratory/Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref> The contribution of each gas to the enhanced greenhouse effect is determined by the characteristics of that gas, its abundance, and any indirect effects it may cause. For example, the direct radiative effect of a mass of methane is about 84 times stronger than the same mass of carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame.<ref name="TableOfWarmingPotentials5">{{cite book |title=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report |page=731 |chapter=Appendix 8.A |access-date=6 November 2017 |chapter-url=http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013100414/http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf |archive-date=13 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Since the 1980s, greenhouse gas forcing contributions (relative to year 1750) are also estimated with high accuracy using IPCC-recommended expressions derived from ]s.<ref name="butmon2">{{Cite web |author=Butler J. and Montzka S. |year=2020 |title=The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/aggi.html |publisher=] Global Monitoring Laboratory/Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref>


The concentration of a greenhouse gas is typically measured in ''parts per million'' (ppm) or ''parts per billion'' (ppb) by volume. A {{CO2}} concentration of 420 ppm means that 420 out of every million air molecules is a {{CO2}} molecule. The first 30&nbsp;ppm increase in {{CO2}} concentrations took place in about 200 years, from the start of the ] to 1958; however the next 90&nbsp;ppm increase took place within 56 years, from 1958 to 2014.<ref name="NOAA2022" /><ref name="Kibert2016">{{cite book |author=Charles J. Kibert |title=Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery |publisher=Wiley |year=2016 |isbn=978-1119055327 |chapter=Background |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=qv3iCwAAQBAJ|page=698}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Full Mauna Loa CO<sub>2</sub> record |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/full.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428033710/https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/full.html |archive-date=28 April 2017 |access-date=6 May 2017 |publisher=Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref> Similarly, the average annual increase in the 1960s was only 37% of what it was in 2000 through 2007.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tans |first=Pieter |date=3 May 2008 |title=Annual CO<sub>2</sub> mole fraction increase (ppm) for 1959–2007 |url=ftp://ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/ccg/co2/trends/co2_gr_mlo.txt |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratories, Global Monitoring Division}} {{cite web |title=additional details |url=http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225142754/https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ |archive-date=25 December 2018 |access-date=15 May 2008}}; see also {{cite journal |last1=Masarie |first1=K.A. |last2=Tans |first2=P.P. |year=1995 |title=Extension and integration of atmospheric carbon dioxide data into a globally consistent measurement record |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1231364 |url-status=live |journal=J. Geophys. Res. |volume=100 |issue=D6 |pages=11593–610 |bibcode=1995JGR...10011593M |doi=10.1029/95JD00859 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308193900/https://zenodo.org/record/1231364 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |access-date=26 July 2019}}</ref> The concentration of a greenhouse gas is typically measured in ''parts per million'' (ppm) or ''parts per billion'' (ppb) by volume. A {{CO2}} concentration of 420 ppm means that 420 out of every million air molecules is a {{CO2}} molecule. The first 30&nbsp;ppm increase in {{CO2}} concentrations took place in about 200 years, from the start of the ] to 1958; however the next 90&nbsp;ppm increase took place within 56 years, from 1958 to 2014.<ref name="NOAA2022" /><ref name="Kibert2016">{{cite book |author=Charles J. Kibert |title=Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery |publisher=Wiley |year=2016 |isbn=978-1119055327 |chapter=Background |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=qv3iCwAAQBAJ|page=698}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Full Mauna Loa CO<sub>2</sub> record |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/full.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428033710/https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/full.html |archive-date=28 April 2017 |access-date=6 May 2017 |publisher=Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref> Similarly, the average annual increase in the 1960s was only 37% of what it was in 2000 through 2007.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tans |first=Pieter |date=3 May 2008 |title=Annual CO<sub>2</sub> mole fraction increase (ppm) for 1959–2007 |url=ftp://ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/ccg/co2/trends/co2_gr_mlo.txt |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratories, Global Monitoring Division}} {{cite web |title=additional details |url=http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225142754/https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ |archive-date=25 December 2018 |access-date=15 May 2008}}; see also {{cite journal |last1=Masarie |first1=K.A. |last2=Tans |first2=P.P. |year=1995 |title=Extension and integration of atmospheric carbon dioxide data into a globally consistent measurement record |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1231364 |url-status=live |journal=J. Geophys. Res. |volume=100 |issue=D6 |pages=11593–610 |bibcode=1995JGR...10011593M |doi=10.1029/95JD00859 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308193900/https://zenodo.org/record/1231364 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |access-date=26 July 2019}}</ref>


Many observations are available online in a variety of ]. The table below shows the most influential long-lived, well-mixed greenhouse gases, along with their tropospheric concentrations and direct ]s, as identified by the ] (IPCC).<ref name="ar5">{{cite book |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/ |title=AR5 Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis |contribution=Chapter 8}}</ref> Abundances of these ]es are regularly measured by atmospheric scientists from samples collected throughout the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Monitoring Laboratory |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ |access-date=2020-12-11 |publisher=NOAA Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases |url=https://gaw.kishou.go.jp/ |access-date=2020-12-11 |publisher=World Meteorological Organization Global Atmosphere Watch Programme and Japan Meteorological Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Advanced Global Atmospheric Gas Experiment |url=https://agage.mit.edu/ |access-date=2020-12-11 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}</ref> It excludes water vapor because changes in its concentrations are calculated as a ] indirectly caused by changes in other greenhouse gases, as well as ozone, whose concentrations are only modified indirectly by various ] that cause ]. Some short-lived gases (e.g. ], ]) and ]s (e.g. ] or ]) are also excluded because of limited role and strong variation, alongside with minor refrigants and other ] gases, which have been mass-produced in smaller quantities than those in the table.<ref name="ar5" />{{rp|731–738}} and Annex III of the 2021 IPCC WG1 Report<ref name="ar6">{{citation |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |date=2021-08-09 |editor=Dentener F. J. |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/#FullReport |section=Annex III: Tables of historical and projected well-mixed greenhouse gas mixing ratios and effective radiative forcing of all climate forcers |section-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_AnnexIII.pdf |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor2=B. Hall |editor3=C. Smith}}</ref>{{rp|4–9}} Many observations are available online in a variety of ]. The table below shows the most influential long-lived, well-mixed greenhouse gases, along with their tropospheric concentrations and direct ]s, as identified by the ] (IPCC).<ref name="ar5">{{cite book |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/ |title=AR5 Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis |contribution=Chapter 8}}</ref> Abundances of these ]es are regularly measured by atmospheric scientists from samples collected throughout the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Monitoring Laboratory |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ |access-date=2020-12-11 |publisher=NOAA Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases |url=https://gaw.kishou.go.jp/ |access-date=2020-12-11 |publisher=World Meteorological Organization Global Atmosphere Watch Programme and Japan Meteorological Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Advanced Global Atmospheric Gas Experiment |url=https://agage.mit.edu/ |access-date=2020-12-11 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}</ref> It excludes water vapor because changes in its concentrations are calculated as a ] indirectly caused by changes in other greenhouse gases, as well as ozone, whose concentrations are only modified indirectly by various ] that cause ]. Some short-lived gases (e.g. ], ]) and ]s (e.g. ] or ]) are also excluded because of limited role and strong variation, along with minor refrigerants and other ] gases, which have been mass-produced in smaller quantities than those in the table.<ref name="ar5" />{{rp|731–738}} and Annex III of the 2021 IPCC WG1 Report<ref name="ar6">{{citation |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |date=2021-08-09 |editor=Dentener F. J. |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/#FullReport |section=Annex III: Tables of historical and projected well-mixed greenhouse gas mixing ratios and effective radiative forcing of all climate forcers |section-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_AnnexIII.pdf |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor2=B. Hall |editor3=C. Smith}}</ref>{{rp|4–9}}


{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+IPCC list of greenhouse gases with lifetime, 100-year ], concentrations in the ] and radiative forcings. The abbreviations TAR, AR4, AR5 and AR6 refer to the different IPCC reports over the years. The baseline is pre-industrialization (year 1750). |+IPCC list of greenhouse gases with lifetime, 100-year ], concentrations in the ] and radiative forcings. The abbreviations TAR, AR4, AR5 and AR6 refer to the different IPCC reports over the years. The baseline is pre-industrialization (year 1750).
! rowspan="2" |Species ! rowspan="2" |Species
! rowspan="2" |] ! rowspan="2" |]
(years) (years)
<ref name="ar5" />{{rp|731}} <ref name="ar5" />{{rp|731}}
Line 96: Line 96:
] ]
<ref name="ar5" />{{rp|731}} <ref name="ar5" />{{rp|731}}
! colspan="5" |Mole Fraction <sup>a</sup> + ] {{ref label|ERF|B|B}} ! colspan="5" |Mole Fraction <sup>a</sup> + ] {{ref label|ERF|B|B}}
! rowspan="2" |Concentrations ! rowspan="2" |Concentrations
over time<ref name="hats">{{cite web |title=Long-term global trends of atmospheric trace gases |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/hats/data.html |access-date=2021-02-11 |publisher=NOAA Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref><ref name="agage">{{cite web |title=AGAGE Data and Figures |url=https://agage.mit.edu/data/agage-data |access-date=2021-02-11 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}</ref> over time<ref name="hats">{{cite web |title=Long-term global trends of atmospheric trace gases |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/hats/data.html |access-date=2021-02-11 |publisher=NOAA Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref><ref name="agage">{{cite web |title=AGAGE Data and Figures |url=https://agage.mit.edu/data/agage-data |access-date=2021-02-11 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}</ref>
Line 168: Line 168:
|0 |0
|4 '''(0.001)''' |4 '''(0.001)'''
| - |
|2.7 '''(0.0007)''' |2.7 '''(0.0007)'''
|3.28 '''(0.0009)''' |3.28 '''(0.0009)'''
Line 188: Line 188:
|0 |0
|15 '''(0.005)''' |15 '''(0.005)'''
| - |
| - |
|16 '''(0.005)''' |16 '''(0.005)'''
| |
Line 198: Line 198:
|0 |0
|7 '''(0.001)''' |7 '''(0.001)'''
| - |
|8.37 '''(0.0017)''' |8.37 '''(0.0017)'''
|8.67 '''(0.0021)''' |8.67 '''(0.0021)'''
Line 267: Line 267:
|677 |677
|0 |0
| - |
| - |
|4.92 '''(0.0005)''' |4.92 '''(0.0005)'''
|20 '''(0.0022)''' |20 '''(0.0022)'''
Line 277: Line 277:
|3,170 |3,170
|0 |0
| - |
|3.7 '''(0.0009)''' |3.7 '''(0.0009)'''
|9.58 '''(0.0022)''' |9.58 '''(0.0022)'''
Line 297: Line 297:
|4,800 |4,800
|0 |0
| - |
| - |
|12.0 '''(0.0019)''' |12.0 '''(0.0019)'''
|24 '''(0.0040)''' |24 '''(0.0040)'''
Line 347: Line 347:
|4,090 |4,090
|0 |0
| - |
| - |
|1.71 '''(0.0003)''' |1.71 '''(0.0003)'''
|2.5 '''(0.0005)''' |2.5 '''(0.0005)'''
Line 357: Line 357:
|16,100 |16,100
|0 |0
| - |
| - |
|0.9 '''(0.0002)''' |0.9 '''(0.0002)'''
|2.05 '''(0.0004)''' |2.05 '''(0.0004)'''
|] |]
|-
|} |}
<sup>a</sup> ]s: μmol/mol = ppm = parts per million (10<sup>6</sup>); nmol/mol = ppb = parts per billion (10<sup>9</sup>); pmol/mol = ppt = parts per trillion (10<sup>12</sup>). <sup>a</sup> ]s: μmol/mol = ppm = parts per million (10<sup>6</sup>); nmol/mol = ppb = parts per billion (10<sup>9</sup>); pmol/mol = ppt = parts per trillion (10<sup>12</sup>).


{{note label|COL|A|A}} The IPCC states that ''"no single atmospheric lifetime can be given"'' for CO<sub>2</sub>.<ref name="ar5" />{{rp|731}} This is mostly due to the rapid growth and cumulative magnitude of the disturbances to Earth's ] by the geologic extraction and burning of fossil carbon.<ref name="Friedlingstein2020" /> As of year 2014, fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emitted as a theoretical 10 to 100&nbsp;GtC pulse on top of the existing atmospheric concentration was expected to be 50% removed by land vegetation and ocean ] in less than about a century, as based on the projections of ] referenced in the AR5 assessment.<ref>{{cite book |title=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report - Supplemental Material |page=8SM-16 |chapter=Figure 8.SM.4 |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/07/WGI_AR5.Chap_.8_SM.pdf}}</ref> A substantial fraction (20-35%) was also projected to remain in the atmosphere for centuries to millennia, where fractional persistence increases with pulse size.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Archer |first=David |year=2009 |title=Atmospheric lifetime of fossil fuel carbon dioxide |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/12933 |journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=117–34 |bibcode=2009AREPS..37..117A |doi=10.1146/annurev.earth.031208.100206 |hdl=2268/12933}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author=Joos, F. |author2=Roth, R. |author3=Fuglestvedt, J.D. |display-authors=etal |year=2013 |title=Carbon dioxide and climate impulse response functions for the computation of greenhouse gas metrics: A multi-model analysis |url=https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/13/2793/2013/ |journal=Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=2793–2825 |doi=10.5194/acpd-12-19799-2012 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/58316}}</ref> {{note label|COL|A|A}} The IPCC states that ''"no single atmospheric lifetime can be given"'' for CO<sub>2</sub>.<ref name="ar5" />{{rp|731}} This is mostly due to the rapid growth and cumulative magnitude of the disturbances to Earth's ] by the geologic extraction and burning of fossil carbon.<ref name="Friedlingstein2020" /> As of year 2014, fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emitted as a theoretical 10 to 100&nbsp;GtC pulse on top of the existing atmospheric concentration was expected to be 50% removed by land vegetation and ocean ] in less than about a century, as based on the projections of ] referenced in the AR5 assessment.<ref>{{cite book |title=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report Supplemental Material |page=8SM-16 |chapter=Figure 8.SM.4 |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/07/WGI_AR5.Chap_.8_SM.pdf}}</ref> A substantial fraction (20–35%) was also projected to remain in the atmosphere for centuries to millennia, where fractional persistence increases with pulse size.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Archer |first=David |year=2009 |title=Atmospheric lifetime of fossil fuel carbon dioxide |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/12933 |journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=117–34 |bibcode=2009AREPS..37..117A |doi=10.1146/annurev.earth.031208.100206 |hdl=2268/12933}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author=Joos, F. |author2=Roth, R. |author3=Fuglestvedt, J.D. |display-authors=etal |year=2013 |title=Carbon dioxide and climate impulse response functions for the computation of greenhouse gas metrics: A multi-model analysis |url=https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/13/2793/2013/ |journal=Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=2793–2825 |doi=10.5194/acpd-12-19799-2012 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/58316}}</ref>


{{note label|ERF|B|B}} Values are relative to year 1750. AR6 reports the ''effective radiative forcing'' which includes effects of rapid adjustments in the atmosphere and at the surface.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Hansen, J. |author2=Sato, M. |author3=Ruedy, R. |display-authors=etal |year=2005 |title=Efficacy of Climate Forcings |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |volume=119 |issue=D18104 |doi=10.1029/2005JD005776 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2005JGRD..11018104H }}</ref> {{note label|ERF|B|B}} Values are relative to year 1750. AR6 reports the ''effective radiative forcing'' which includes effects of rapid adjustments in the atmosphere and at the surface.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Hansen, J. |author2=Sato, M. |author3=Ruedy, R. |display-authors=etal |year=2005 |title=Efficacy of Climate Forcings |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |volume=119 |issue=D18104 |doi=10.1029/2005JD005776 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2005JGRD..11018104H }}</ref>


=== Factors affecting concentrations === == Factors affecting concentrations ==
Atmospheric concentrations are determined by the balance between sources (emissions of the gas from human activities and natural systems) and sinks (the removal of the gas from the atmosphere by conversion to a different chemical compound or absorption by bodies of water).<ref>Denman, K.L., G. Brasseur, A. Chidthaisong, P. Ciais, P.M. Cox, R.E. Dickinson, D. Hauglustaine, C. Heinze, E. Holland, D. Jacob, U. Lohmann, S Ramachandran, P.L. da Silva Dias, S.C. Wofsy and X. Zhang, 2007: . In: . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.</ref>{{rp|512}} Atmospheric concentrations are determined by the balance between sources (emissions of the gas from human activities and natural systems) and sinks (the removal of the gas from the atmosphere by conversion to a different chemical compound or absorption by bodies of water).<ref>Denman, K.L., G. Brasseur, A. Chidthaisong, P. Ciais, P.M. Cox, R.E. Dickinson, D. Hauglustaine, C. Heinze, E. Holland, D. Jacob, U. Lohmann, S Ramachandran, P.L. da Silva Dias, S.C. Wofsy and X. Zhang, 2007: . In: . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.</ref>{{rp|512}}


==== Airborne fraction ==== === Airborne fraction ===

]s, including plant growth, soil uptake, and ocean uptake (]).]] ]s, including plant growth, soil uptake, and ocean uptake (]).]]


The proportion of an emission remaining in the atmosphere after a specified time is the "]" (AF). The ''annual airborne fraction'' is the ratio of the atmospheric increase in a given year to that year's total emissions. The annual airborne fraction for {{CO2}} had been stable at 0.45 for the past six decades even as the emissions have been increasing. This means that the other 0.55 of emitted {{CO2}} is absorbed by the land and atmosphere carbon sinks within the first year of an emission.<ref name="Friedlingstein2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Friedlingstein |first1=Pierre |last2=O'Sullivan |first2=Michael |last3=Jones |first3=Matthew W. |last4=Andrew |first4=Robbie M. |last5=Hauck |first5=Judith |last6=Olsen |first6=Are |last7=Peters |first7=Glen P. |last8=Peters |first8=Wouter |last9=Pongratz |first9=Julia |last10=Sitch |first10=Stephen |last11=Le Quéré |first11=Corinne |last12=Canadell |first12=Josep G. |last13=Ciais |first13=Philippe |last14=Jackson |first14=Robert B. |last15=Alin |first15=Simone |date=2020 |title=Global Carbon Budget 2020 |journal=Earth System Science Data |language=en |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=3269–3340 |doi=10.5194/essd-12-3269-2020 |bibcode=2020ESSD...12.3269F |issn=1866-3516 |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/458765 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In the high-emission scenarios, the effectiveness of carbon sinks will be lower, increasing the atmospheric fraction of {{CO2}} even though the raw amount of emissions absorbed will be higher than in the present.<ref name="AR6WG1CH5">{{Cite book |last1=Canadell |first1=J. G. |last2=Monteiro |first2=P. M. S. |last3=Costa |first3=M. H. |last4=Cotrim da Cunha |first4=L. |last5=Ishii |first5=M. |last6=Jaccard |first6=S. |last7=Cox |first7=P. M. |last8=Eliseev |first8=A. V. |last9=Henson |first9=S. |last10=Koven |first10=C. |last11=Lohila |first11=A. |last12=Patra |first12=P. K. |last13=Piao |first13=S. |last14=Rogelj |first14=J. |last15=Syampungani |first15=S. |last16=Zaehle |first16=S. |last17=Zickfeld |first17=K. |year=2021 |title=IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Working Group 1 |chapter=Global Carbon and Other Biogeochemical Cycles and Feedbacks |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter_05.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|746}} The proportion of an emission remaining in the atmosphere after a specified time is the "]" (AF). The ''annual airborne fraction'' is the ratio of the atmospheric increase in a given year to that year's total emissions. The annual airborne fraction for {{CO2}} had been stable at 0.45 for the past six decades even as the emissions have been increasing. This means that the other 0.55 of emitted {{CO2}} is absorbed by the land and atmosphere carbon sinks within the first year of an emission.<ref name="Friedlingstein2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Friedlingstein |first1=Pierre |last2=O'Sullivan |first2=Michael |last3=Jones |first3=Matthew W. |last4=Andrew |first4=Robbie M. |last5=Hauck |first5=Judith |last6=Olsen |first6=Are |last7=Peters |first7=Glen P. |last8=Peters |first8=Wouter |last9=Pongratz |first9=Julia |last10=Sitch |first10=Stephen |last11=Le Quéré |first11=Corinne |last12=Canadell |first12=Josep G. |last13=Ciais |first13=Philippe |last14=Jackson |first14=Robert B. |last15=Alin |first15=Simone |date=2020 |title=Global Carbon Budget 2020 |journal=Earth System Science Data |language=en |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=3269–3340 |doi=10.5194/essd-12-3269-2020 |bibcode=2020ESSD...12.3269F |issn=1866-3516 |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/458765 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In the high-emission scenarios, the effectiveness of carbon sinks will be lower, increasing the atmospheric fraction of {{CO2}} even though the raw amount of emissions absorbed will be higher than in the present.<ref name="AR6WG1CH5">{{Cite book |last1=Canadell |first1=J. G. |last2=Monteiro |first2=P. M. S. |last3=Costa |first3=M. H. |last4=Cotrim da Cunha |first4=L. |last5=Ishii |first5=M. |last6=Jaccard |first6=S. |last7=Cox |first7=P. M. |last8=Eliseev |first8=A. V. |last9=Henson |first9=S. |last10=Koven |first10=C. |last11=Lohila |first11=A. |last12=Patra |first12=P. K. |last13=Piao |first13=S. |last14=Rogelj |first14=J. |last15=Syampungani |first15=S. |last16=Zaehle |first16=S. |last17=Zickfeld |first17=K. |year=2021 |title=IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Working Group 1 |chapter=Global Carbon and Other Biogeochemical Cycles and Feedbacks |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter_05.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|746}}


==== Atmospheric lifetime ==== === Atmospheric lifetime ===

] ]


Line 397: Line 394:
If input of this gas into the box ceased, then after time <math>\tau</math>, its concentration would decrease by about 63%. If input of this gas into the box ceased, then after time <math>\tau</math>, its concentration would decrease by about 63%.


Changes to any of these variables can alter the atmospheric lifetime of a greenhouse gas. For instance, methane's atmospheric lifetime is estimated to have been lower in the ] than now, but to have been higher in the second half of the ] than after 2000.<ref name="Arora2018">{{Cite journal |last1=Arora |first1=Vivek K. |last2=Melton |first2=Joe R. |last3=Plummer |first3=David |date=1 August 2018 |title=An assessment of natural methane fluxes simulated by the CLASS-CTEM model |journal=Biogeosciences |volume=15 |issue=15 |pages=4683–4709 |doi=10.5194/bg-15-4683-2018 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018BGeo...15.4683A }}</ref> Carbon dioxide has an even more variable lifetime, which cannot be specified down to a single number.<ref>{{cite web |date=15 March 2005 |title=How long will global warming last? |url=http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/03/how-long-will-global-warming-last |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304213944/http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/03/how-long-will-global-warming-last/ |archive-date=4 March 2021 |access-date=2012-06-12 |publisher=RealClimate}}</ref><ref name="TableOfWarmingPotentials5" /><ref name="AR6_WGI_AnnexVII" />{{rp|2237}} Scientists instead say that while the first 10% of carbon dioxide's airborne fraction (not counting the ~50% absorbed by land and ocean sinks within the emission's first year) is removed "quickly", the vast majority of the airborne fraction - 80% - lasts for "centuries to millennia". The remaining 10% stays for tens of thousands of years. In some models, this longest-lasting fraction is as large as 30%.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 January 2023 |title=How long will global warming last? |url= Changes to any of these variables can alter the atmospheric lifetime of a greenhouse gas. For instance, methane's atmospheric lifetime is estimated to have been lower in the 19th century than now, but to have been higher in the second half of the 20th century than after 2000.<ref name="Arora2018">{{Cite journal |last1=Arora |first1=Vivek K. |last2=Melton |first2=Joe R. |last3=Plummer |first3=David |date=1 August 2018 |title=An assessment of natural methane fluxes simulated by the CLASS-CTEM model |journal=Biogeosciences |volume=15 |issue=15 |pages=4683–4709 |doi=10.5194/bg-15-4683-2018 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018BGeo...15.4683A |url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/93b2/b104e0c79cc158781d3b28105e2a48d05389.pdf }}</ref> Carbon dioxide has an even more variable lifetime, which cannot be specified down to a single number.<ref>{{cite web |date=15 March 2005 |title=How long will global warming last? |url=http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/03/how-long-will-global-warming-last |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304213944/http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/03/how-long-will-global-warming-last/ |archive-date=4 March 2021 |access-date=2012-06-12 |publisher=RealClimate}}</ref><ref name="TableOfWarmingPotentials5" /><ref name="AR6_WGI_AnnexVII" />{{rp|2237}} Scientists instead say that while the first 10% of carbon dioxide's airborne fraction (not counting the ~50% absorbed by land and ocean sinks within the emission's first year) is removed "quickly", the vast majority of the airborne fraction 80% lasts for "centuries to millennia". The remaining 10% stays for tens of thousands of years. In some models, this longest-lasting fraction is as large as 30%.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 January 2023 |title=How long will global warming last? |url=
https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-do-we-know-how-long-carbon-dioxide-remains-atmosphere |publisher=] Climate Portal }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Atkinson |first=Kate |date=19 July 2023 |title=How long will global warming last? |url=https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/carbon-atmospheric-residence-claim-is-full-of-gas/ |publisher=] }}</ref> https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-do-we-know-how-long-carbon-dioxide-remains-atmosphere |publisher=] Climate Portal }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Atkinson |first=Kate |date=19 July 2023 |title=How long will global warming last? |url=https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/carbon-atmospheric-residence-claim-is-full-of-gas/ |publisher=] }}</ref>


]
== Sources ==
=== Natural sources ===
Most greenhouse gases have both natural and human-caused sources. An exception are purely human-produced synthetic halocarbons which have no natural sources. During the pre-industrial ], concentrations of existing gases were roughly constant, because the large natural sources and sinks roughly balanced. In the industrial era, human activities have added greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, mainly through the burning of ] and clearing of forests.<ref>{{cite web |year=2000 |title=Chapter 3, IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, 2000 |url=https://ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/spm/sres-en.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820085208/http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/spm/sres-en.pdf |archive-date=20 August 2018 |access-date=2010-10-16 |publisher=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change}}</ref><ref name=":0" />{{rp|115}}


=== During geologic time scales ===
=== Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities ===
{{excerpt|Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere#Concentrations in the geologic past|paragraphs=1-2}}
]
{{Excerpt|Greenhouse gas emissions|Overview of main sources|only=paragraph|this=This section is|paragraphs=1-2}}


== Monitoring == == Monitoring ==
{{Further|Greenhouse gas monitoring|Greenhouse gas inventory|Greenhouse gas emissions}} {{Further|Greenhouse gas monitoring|Greenhouse gas inventory|Greenhouse gas emissions}}

]


] involves the direct ] of atmospheric concentrations and direct and indirect measurement of ]. Indirect methods calculate emissions of greenhouse gases based on related metrics such as fossil fuel extraction.<ref name="Friedlingstein2020" /> ] involves the direct ] of atmospheric concentrations and direct and indirect measurement of ]. Indirect methods calculate emissions of greenhouse gases based on related metrics such as fossil fuel extraction.<ref name="Friedlingstein2020" />


There are several different methods of measuring carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, including ] and ].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Harris|first=Daniel C.|date=2010|title=Charles David Keeling and the Story of Atmospheric CO2 Measurements|journal=Analytical Chemistry|language=en|volume=82|issue=19|pages=7865–7870|doi=10.1021/ac1001492|pmid=20536268|issn=0003-2700}}</ref> Methane and nitrous oxide are measured by other instruments, such as the range-resolved infrared ] (DIAL).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Innocenti|first1=Fabrizio|last2=Robinson|first2=Rod|last3=Gardiner|first3=Tom|last4=Finlayson|first4=Andrew|last5=Connor|first5=Andy|date=2017|title=Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) Measurements of Landfill Methane Emissions|journal=Remote Sensing|language=en|volume=9|issue=9|pages=953|doi=10.3390/rs9090953|bibcode=2017RemS....9..953I|doi-access=free}}</ref> ] such as by the ] and through networks of ]s such as the ].<ref name="Friedlingstein2020" /> There are several different methods of measuring carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, including ] and ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harris |first=Daniel C. |date=2010 |title=Charles David Keeling and the Story of Atmospheric CO2 Measurements |journal=Analytical Chemistry |language=en |volume=82 |issue=19 |pages=7865–7870 |doi=10.1021/ac1001492 |issn=0003-2700 |pmid=20536268}}</ref> Methane and nitrous oxide are measured by other instruments, such as the range-resolved infrared ] (DIAL).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Innocenti |first1=Fabrizio |last2=Robinson |first2=Rod |last3=Gardiner |first3=Tom |last4=Finlayson |first4=Andrew |last5=Connor |first5=Andy |date=2017 |title=Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) Measurements of Landfill Methane Emissions |journal=Remote Sensing |language=en |volume=9 |issue=9 |pages=953 |bibcode=2017RemS....9..953I |doi=10.3390/rs9090953 |doi-access=free|url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3683/aff466b2a818e872901f2df9c58d3cb8b20b.pdf }}</ref> ] such as by the ] and through networks of ]s such as the ].<ref name="Friedlingstein2020" />


The Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) is defined by atmospheric scientists at ] as the ratio of total direct radiative forcing due to long-lived and well-mixed greenhouse gases for any year for which adequate global measurements exist, to that present in year 1990.<ref name="butmon" /><ref>{{cite web |author=LuAnn Dahlman |date=14 August 2020 |title=Climate change: annual greenhouse gas index |url=https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-annual-greenhouse-gas-index |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816013542/https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-annual-greenhouse-gas-index |archive-date=16 August 2013 |access-date=5 September 2020 |publisher=NOAA Climate.gov science news & Information for a climate smart nation}}</ref> These radiative forcing levels are relative to those present in year 1750 (i.e. prior to the start of the ]). 1990 is chosen because it is the baseline year for the ], and is the publication year of the ]. As such, NOAA states that the AGGI "measures the commitment that (global) society has already made to living in a changing climate. It is based on the highest quality atmospheric observations from sites around the world. Its uncertainty is very low."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) - An Introduction |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127013113/https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/ |archive-date=27 November 2020 |access-date=5 September 2020 |publisher=] Global Monitoring Laboratory/Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref> The Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) is defined by atmospheric scientists at ] as the ratio of total direct radiative forcing due to long-lived and well-mixed greenhouse gases for any year for which adequate global measurements exist, to that present in year 1990.<ref name="butmon" /><ref>{{cite web |author=LuAnn Dahlman |date=14 August 2020 |title=Climate change: annual greenhouse gas index |url=https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-annual-greenhouse-gas-index |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816013542/https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-annual-greenhouse-gas-index |archive-date=16 August 2013 |access-date=5 September 2020 |publisher=NOAA Climate.gov science news & Information for a climate smart nation}}</ref> These radiative forcing levels are relative to those present in year 1750 (i.e. prior to the start of the ]). 1990 is chosen because it is the baseline year for the ], and is the publication year of the ]. As such, NOAA states that the AGGI "measures the commitment that (global) society has already made to living in a changing climate. It is based on the highest quality atmospheric observations from sites around the world. Its uncertainty is very low."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) An Introduction |url=https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127013113/https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/ |archive-date=27 November 2020 |access-date=5 September 2020 |publisher=] Global Monitoring Laboratory/Earth System Research Laboratories}}</ref>


===Data networks=== ===Data networks===
{{excerpt|Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere#Data networks|paragraphs=1}} {{excerpt|Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere#Data networks|paragraphs=1}}


== Removal from the atmosphere == == Types of sources ==
=== Natural sources ===
{{Further|Carbon sink|Carbon sequestration}}

===Natural processes===
{{Further|Carbon cycle}} {{Further|Carbon cycle}}


Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere primarily through ] and enters the terrestrial and oceanic biospheres. Carbon dioxide also dissolves directly from the atmosphere into bodies of water (ocean, lakes, etc.), as well as dissolving in precipitation as raindrops fall through the atmosphere. When dissolved in water, carbon dioxide reacts with water molecules and forms ], which contributes to ]. It can then be absorbed by rocks through ]. It also can acidify other surfaces it touches or be washed into the ocean.<ref name="Planet">{{Cite journal |title=Many Planets, One Earth // Section 4: Carbon Cycling and Earth's Climate |url=http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=1&secNum=4 |url-status=live |journal=Many Planets, One Earth |volume=4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417175417/http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=1&secNum=4 |archive-date=17 April 2012 |access-date=2012-06-24 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>{{excerpt|Atmospheric carbon cycle|paragraphs=1}} The natural flows of carbon between the atmosphere, ocean, ]s, and sediments are fairly balanced; so carbon levels would be roughly stable without human influence.<ref name="Prentice_etal_20012">{{cite book |last=Prentice |first=I.C. |title=Climate change 2001: the scientific basis: contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergouvernmental Panel on Climate Change |year=2001 |editor1-last=Houghton |editor1-first=J.T. |chapter=The carbon cycle and atmospheric carbon dioxide |hdl=10067/381670151162165141}}</ref><ref name="U2">{{cite web |year=2009 |title=An Introduction to the Global Carbon Cycle |url=http://globecarboncycle.unh.edu/CarbonCycleBackground.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008110835/http://globecarboncycle.unh.edu/CarbonCycleBackground.pdf |archive-date=8 October 2016 |access-date=6 February 2016 |publisher=University of New Hampshire |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere primarily through ] and enters the terrestrial and oceanic biospheres. Carbon dioxide also dissolves directly from the atmosphere into bodies of water (ocean, lakes, etc.), as well as dissolving in precipitation as raindrops fall through the atmosphere. When dissolved in water, carbon dioxide reacts with water molecules and forms ], which contributes to ]. It can then be absorbed by rocks through ]. It also can acidify other surfaces it touches or be washed into the ocean.<ref name="Planet">{{Cite journal |title=Many Planets, One Earth // Section 4: Carbon Cycling and Earth's Climate |url=http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=1&secNum=4 |url-status=live |journal=Many Planets, One Earth |volume=4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417175417/http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=1&secNum=4 |archive-date=17 April 2012 |access-date=2012-06-24 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>{{excerpt|Atmospheric carbon cycle|paragraphs=1}}


===Negative emissions=== === Human-made sources ===
]
{{main|Carbon dioxide removal|Net zero emissions}}
{{Main|Greenhouse gas emissions}}
The vast majority of carbon dioxide emissions by humans come from the burning of ]s. Additional contributions come from cement manufacturing, ] production, and changes in ] like ].<ref name=":1" />{{rp|687}}<ref name="EPA_GHGdata" /><ref name=":2">{{cite web |title=AR4 SYR Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers – 2 Causes of change |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/syr/en/spms2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228235005/http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/syr/en/spms2.html |archive-date=28 February 2018 |access-date=9 October 2015 |work=ipcc.ch}}</ref> ] originate ], fossil fuel production, waste, and other sources.<ref name=":4" />


If current ] continue then temperature rises will surpass {{convert|2.0|C-change}} sometime between 2040 and 2070, which is the level the United Nations' ] (IPCC) says is "dangerous".<ref name=":5" />
A number of technologies remove greenhouse gases emissions from the atmosphere. Most widely analyzed are those that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, either to geologic formations such as ] and ],<ref name="RoyalSociety">{{cite web |year=2009 |title=Geoengineering the climate: science, governance and uncertainty |url=http://royalsociety.org/displaypagedoc.asp?id=35151 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907031520/http://royalsociety.org/displaypagedoc.asp?id=35151 |archive-date=7 September 2009 |access-date=12 September 2009 |work=The Royal Society}}</ref> or to the soil as in the case with ].<ref name="RoyalSociety" /> Many long-term climate scenario models require large-scale human-made negative emissions to avoid serious climate change.<ref>Fisher, B.S., N. Nakicenovic, K. Alfsen, J. Corfee Morlot, F. de la Chesnaye, J.-Ch. Hourcade, K. Jiang, M. Kainuma, E. La Rovere, A. Matysek, A. Rana, K. Riahi, R. Richels, S. Rose, D. van Vuuren, R. Warren, 2007: , In , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,</ref> Negative emissions approaches are also being studied for atmospheric methane, called ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Robert B. |last2=Abernethy |first2=Sam |last3=Canadell |first3=Josep G. |last4=Cargnello |first4=Matteo |last5=Davis |first5=Steven J. |last6=Féron |first6=Sarah |last7=Fuss |first7=Sabine |last8=Heyer |first8=Alexander J. |last9=Hong |first9=Chaopeng |last10=Jones |first10=Chris D. |last11=Damon Matthews |first11=H. |last12=O'Connor |first12=Fiona M. |last13=Pisciotta |first13=Maxwell |last14=Rhoda |first14=Hannah M. |last15=de Richter |first15=Renaud |date=2021-11-15 |title=Atmospheric methane removal: a research agenda |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |language=en |volume=379 |issue=2210 |pages=20200454 |bibcode=2021RSPTA.37900454J |doi=10.1098/rsta.2020.0454 |issn=1364-503X |pmc=8473948 |pmid=34565221}}</ref>


Most greenhouse gases have both natural and human-caused sources. An exception are purely human-produced synthetic halocarbons which have no natural sources. During the pre-industrial ], concentrations of existing gases were roughly constant, because the large natural sources and sinks roughly balanced. In the industrial era, human activities have added greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, mainly through the burning of ] and clearing of forests.<ref>{{cite web |year=2000 |title=Chapter 3, IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, 2000 |url=https://ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/spm/sres-en.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820085208/http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/spm/sres-en.pdf |archive-date=20 August 2018 |access-date=2010-10-16 |publisher=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change}}</ref><ref name=":0" />{{rp|115}}{{Excerpt|Greenhouse gas emissions|Overview of main sources|only=paragraph|this=This section is|paragraphs=1-2}}
== During geologic time scales ==

{{excerpt|Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere#Concentrations in the geologic past|paragraphs=1-2}}
== Reducing human-caused greenhouse gases ==
{{main|Climate change mitigation}}

=== Needed emissions cuts ===
{{Excerpt|Climate change mitigation|Needed emissions cuts}}

=== Removal from the atmosphere through negative emissions ===
{{main|Carbon dioxide removal|Net zero emissions|Carbon sink}}

Several technologies remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. Most widely analyzed are those that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, either to geologic formations such as ] and ],<ref name="RoyalSociety">{{cite web |year=2009 |title=Geoengineering the climate: science, governance and uncertainty |url=http://royalsociety.org/displaypagedoc.asp?id=35151 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907031520/http://royalsociety.org/displaypagedoc.asp?id=35151 |archive-date=7 September 2009 |access-date=12 September 2009 |work=The Royal Society}}</ref> or to the soil as in the case with ].<ref name="RoyalSociety" /> Many long-term climate scenario models require large-scale human-made negative emissions to avoid serious climate change.<ref>Fisher, B.S., N. Nakicenovic, K. Alfsen, J. Corfee Morlot, F. de la Chesnaye, J.-Ch. Hourcade, K. Jiang, M. Kainuma, E. La Rovere, A. Matysek, A. Rana, K. Riahi, R. Richels, S. Rose, D. van Vuuren, R. Warren, 2007: , In , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,</ref>

Negative emissions approaches are also being studied for atmospheric methane, called ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Robert B. |last2=Abernethy |first2=Sam |last3=Canadell |first3=Josep G. |last4=Cargnello |first4=Matteo |last5=Davis |first5=Steven J. |last6=Féron |first6=Sarah |last7=Fuss |first7=Sabine |last8=Heyer |first8=Alexander J. |last9=Hong |first9=Chaopeng |last10=Jones |first10=Chris D. |last11=Damon Matthews |first11=H. |last12=O'Connor |first12=Fiona M. |last13=Pisciotta |first13=Maxwell |last14=Rhoda |first14=Hannah M. |last15=de Richter |first15=Renaud |date=2021-11-15 |title=Atmospheric methane removal: a research agenda |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |language=en |volume=379 |issue=2210 |pages=20200454 |bibcode=2021RSPTA.37900454J |doi=10.1098/rsta.2020.0454 |issn=1364-503X |pmc=8473948 |pmid=34565221}}</ref>


== History of discovery == == History of discovery ==
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{{Further|Greenhouse effect#Bodies other than Earth}} {{Further|Greenhouse effect#Bodies other than Earth}}


Greenhouse gases exist in many ], creating greenhouse effects on ], ] and particularly in the thick ].<ref>{{cite web |author=Eddie Schwieterman |title=Comparing the Greenhouse Effect on Earth, Mars, Venus, and Titan: Present Day and through Time |url=http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/eschwiet/essays/greenhouse_ASTR555.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130202450/http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/eschwiet/essays/greenhouse_ASTR555.pdf |archive-date=30 January 2015}}</ref> While Venus has been described as the ultimate end state of ], such a process would have virtually no chance of occurring from any increases in greenhouse gas concentrations caused by humans,<ref name="IPCC2009">{{cite report |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/inf3-6.pdf |title=Scoping of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report Cross Cutting Issues |work=Thirty-first Session of the IPCC Bali, 26–29 October 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109215503/http://www.ipcc.ch/meetings/session31/inf3.pdf |archive-date=9 November 2009 |access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref> as the ]'s brightness is too low and it would likely need to increase by some tens of percents, which will take a few billion years.<ref name="Hansen et al 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Hansen |first1=James |first2=Makiko |last2=Sato |first3=Gary |last3=Russell |first4=Pushker |last4=Kharecha |date=2013 |title=Climate sensitivity, sea level and atmospheric carbon dioxide |journal= Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |volume=371 |issue=2001 |at=20120294 |bibcode=2013RSPTA.37120294H |doi=10.1098/rsta.2012.0294 |pmid=24043864 |pmc=3785813|arxiv=1211.4846 }}</ref> Greenhouse gases exist in many ], creating greenhouse effects on ], ], and particularly in the thick ].<ref>{{cite web |author=Eddie Schwieterman |title=Comparing the Greenhouse Effect on Earth, Mars, Venus, and Titan: Present Day and through Time |url=http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/eschwiet/essays/greenhouse_ASTR555.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130202450/http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/eschwiet/essays/greenhouse_ASTR555.pdf |archive-date=30 January 2015}}</ref> While Venus has been described as the ultimate end state of ], such a process would have virtually no chance of occurring from any increases in greenhouse gas concentrations caused by humans,<ref name="IPCC2009">{{cite report |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/inf3-6.pdf |title=Scoping of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report Cross Cutting Issues |work=Thirty-first Session of the IPCC Bali, 26–29 October 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109215503/http://www.ipcc.ch/meetings/session31/inf3.pdf |archive-date=9 November 2009 |access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref> as the ]'s brightness is too low and it would likely need to increase by some tens of percents, which will take a few billion years.<ref name="Hansen et al 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Hansen |first1=James |first2=Makiko |last2=Sato |first3=Gary |last3=Russell |first4=Pushker |last4=Kharecha |date=2013 |title=Climate sensitivity, sea level and atmospheric carbon dioxide |journal= Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |volume=371 |issue=2001 |at=20120294 |bibcode=2013RSPTA.37120294H |doi=10.1098/rsta.2012.0294 |pmid=24043864 |pmc=3785813|arxiv=1211.4846 }}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
{{Portal|Climate change|Environment|Renewable Energy}} {{Portal|Climate change|Environment}}

{{Columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* ] *{{ Annotated link | Carbon accounting }}
* ] *{{ Annotated link | Carbon budget }}
*{{ Annotated link | Carbon sequestration }}
*]
*{{ Annotated link | Climate change feedback }}
* ]
* ] *{{ Annotated link | Greenhouse gas monitoring }}
*{{ Annotated link | Greenhouse gas inventory }}
*]
}}


==References== ==References==
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==External links== ==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}} {{Wiktionary}}
*{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{citation |title=Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |url=https://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/ |access-date=2020-07-26}} *{{citation |title=Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |url=https://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/ |access-date=2020-07-26}}
* from NOAA * from NOAA
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325100504/http://spectralcalc.com/ |date=25 March 2013 }} *. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325100504/http://spectralcalc.com/ |date=25 March 2013 }}.


{{Global warming}} {{Global warming}}

Latest revision as of 02:30, 9 December 2024

Gas in an atmosphere with certain absorption characteristics

This article is about the physical properties of greenhouse gases. For how human activities are adding to greenhouse gases, see Greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenhouse gases trap some of the heat that results when sunlight heats the Earth's surface. Three important greenhouse gases are shown symbolically in this image: carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane.
Physical drivers of global warming that has happened so far. Future global warming potential for long lived drivers like carbon dioxide emissions is not represented. Whiskers on each bar show the possible error range.

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. What distinguishes them from other gases is that they absorb the wavelengths of radiation that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. The Earth is warmed by sunlight, causing its surface to radiate heat, which is then mostly absorbed by greenhouse gases. Without greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the average temperature of Earth's surface would be about −18 °C (0 °F), rather than the present average of 15 °C (59 °F).

The five most abundant greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, listed in decreasing order of average global mole fraction, are: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone. Other greenhouse gases of concern include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs and HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons, SF
6
, and NF
3
. Water vapor causes about half of the greenhouse effect, acting in response to other gases as a climate change feedback.

Human activities since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (around 1750) have increased carbon dioxide by over 50%, and methane levels by 150%. Carbon dioxide emissions are causing about three-quarters of global warming, while methane emissions cause most of the rest. The vast majority of carbon dioxide emissions by humans come from the burning of fossil fuels, with remaining contributions from agriculture and industry. Methane emissions originate from agriculture, fossil fuel production, waste, and other sources. The carbon cycle takes thousands of years to fully absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, while methane lasts in the atmosphere for an average of only 12 years.

Natural flows of carbon happen between the atmosphere, terrestrial ecosystems, the ocean, and sediments. These flows have been fairly balanced over the past 1 million years, although greenhouse gas levels have varied widely in the more distant past. Carbon dioxide levels are now higher than they have been for 3 million years. If current emission rates continue then global warming will surpass 2.0 °C (3.6 °F) sometime between 2040 and 2070. This is a level which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says is "dangerous".

Properties and mechanisms

refer to caption and adjacent text
Atmospheric absorption and scattering at different wavelengths of electromagnetic waves. The largest absorption band of carbon dioxide is not far from the maximum in the thermal emission from ground, and it partly closes the window of transparency of water—explaining carbon dioxide's major heat-trapping effect.

Greenhouse gases are infrared active, meaning that they absorb and emit infrared radiation in the same long wavelength range as what is emitted by the Earth's surface, clouds and atmosphere.

99% of the Earth's dry atmosphere (excluding water vapor) is made up of nitrogen (N
2) (78%) and oxygen (O
2) (21%). Because their molecules contain two atoms of the same element, they have no asymmetry in the distribution of their electrical charges, and so are almost totally unaffected by infrared thermal radiation, with only an extremely minor effect from collision-induced absorption. A further 0.9% of the atmosphere is made up by argon (Ar), which is monatomic, and so completely transparent to thermal radiation. On the other hand, carbon dioxide (0.04%), methane, nitrous oxide and even less abundant trace gases account for less than 0.1% of Earth's atmosphere, but because their molecules contain atoms of different elements, there is an asymmetry in electric charge distribution which allows molecular vibrations to interact with electromagnetic radiation. This makes them infrared active, and so their presence causes greenhouse effect.

Radiative forcing

Main article: Radiative forcing
Longwave-infrared absorption coefficients of primary greenhouse gases. Water vapor absorbs over a broad range of wavelengths. Earth emits thermal radiation particularly strongly in the vicinity of the carbon dioxide 15-micron absorption band. The relative importance of water vapor decreases with increasing altitude.

Earth absorbs some of the radiant energy received from the sun, reflects some of it as light and reflects or radiates the rest back to space as heat. A planet's surface temperature depends on this balance between incoming and outgoing energy. When Earth's energy balance is shifted, its surface becomes warmer or cooler, leading to a variety of changes in global climate. Radiative forcing is a metric calculated in watts per square meter, which characterizes the impact of an external change in a factor that influences climate. It is calculated as the difference in top-of-atmosphere (TOA) energy balance immediately caused by such an external change. A positive forcing, such as from increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, means more energy arriving than leaving at the top-of-atmosphere, which causes additional warming, while negative forcing, like from sulfates forming in the atmosphere from sulfur dioxide, leads to cooling.

Within the lower atmosphere, greenhouse gases exchange thermal radiation with the surface and limit radiative heat flow away from it, which reduces the overall rate of upward radiative heat transfer. The increased concentration of greenhouse gases is also cooling the upper atmosphere, as it is much thinner than the lower layers, and any heat re-emitted from greenhouse gases is more likely to travel further to space than to interact with the fewer gas molecules in the upper layers. The upper atmosphere is also shrinking as the result.

Contributions of specific gases to the greenhouse effect

Main article: Greenhouse effect

Anthropogenic changes to the natural greenhouse effect are sometimes referred to as the enhanced greenhouse effect.

This table shows the most important contributions to the overall greenhouse effect, without which the average temperature of Earth's surface would be about −18 °C (0 °F), instead of around 15 °C (59 °F). This table also specifies tropospheric ozone, because this gas has a cooling effect in the stratosphere, but a warming influence comparable to nitrous oxide and CFCs in the troposphere.

Percent contribution to total greenhouse effect
K&T (1997) Schmidt (2010)
Contributor Clear Sky With Clouds Clear Sky With Clouds
Water vapor 60 41 67 50
Clouds 31 25
CO2 26 18 24 19
Tropospheric ozone (O3) 8
N2O + CH4 6
Other 9 9 7

K&T (1997) used 353 ppm CO2 and calculated 125 W/m total clear-sky greenhouse effect; relied on single atmospheric profile and cloud model. "With Clouds" percentages are from Schmidt (2010) interpretation of K&T (1997).
Schmidt (2010) used 1980 climatology with 339 ppm CO2 and 155 W/m total greenhouse effect; accounted for temporal and 3-D spatial distribution of absorbers.

Special role of water vapor

Atmospheric gases only absorb some wavelengths of energy but are transparent to others. The absorption patterns of water vapor (blue peaks) and carbon dioxide (pink peaks) overlap in some wavelengths.

Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas overall, being responsible for 41–67% of the greenhouse effect, but its global concentrations are not directly affected by human activity. While local water vapor concentrations can be affected by developments such as irrigation, it has little impact on the global scale due to its short residence time of about nine days. Indirectly, an increase in global temperatures cause will also increase water vapor concentrations and thus their warming effect, in a process known as water vapor feedback. It occurs because Clausius–Clapeyron relation establishes that more water vapor will be present per unit volume at elevated temperatures. Thus, local atmospheric concentration of water vapor varies from less than 0.01% in extremely cold regions and up to 3% by mass in saturated air at about 32 °C.

Global warming potential (GWP) and CO2 equivalents

This section is an excerpt from Global warming potential.
Comparison of global warming potential (GWP) of three greenhouse gases over a 100-year period: Perfluorotributylamine, nitrous oxide and methane, compared to carbon dioxide (the latter is the reference value, therefore it has a GWP of one)

Global warming potential (GWP) is an index to measure how much infrared thermal radiation a greenhouse gas would absorb over a given time frame after it has been added to the atmosphere (or emitted to the atmosphere). The GWP makes different greenhouse gases comparable with regard to their "effectiveness in causing radiative forcing". It is expressed as a multiple of the radiation that would be absorbed by the same mass of added carbon dioxide (CO2), which is taken as a reference gas. Therefore, the GWP has a value of 1 for CO2. For other gases it depends on how strongly the gas absorbs infrared thermal radiation, how quickly the gas leaves the atmosphere, and the time frame being considered.

For example, methane has a GWP over 20 years (GWP-20) of 81.2 meaning that, for example, a leak of a tonne of methane is equivalent to emitting 81.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide measured over 20 years. As methane has a much shorter atmospheric lifetime than carbon dioxide, its GWP is much less over longer time periods, with a GWP-100 of 27.9 and a GWP-500 of 7.95.

The carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e or CO2eq or CO2-e or CO2-eq) can be calculated from the GWP. For any gas, it is the mass of CO2 that would warm the earth as much as the mass of that gas. Thus it provides a common scale for measuring the climate effects of different gases. It is calculated as GWP times mass of the other gas.

List of all greenhouse gases

The radiative forcing (warming influence) of long-lived atmospheric greenhouse gases has accelerated, almost doubling in 40 years.

The contribution of each gas to the enhanced greenhouse effect is determined by the characteristics of that gas, its abundance, and any indirect effects it may cause. For example, the direct radiative effect of a mass of methane is about 84 times stronger than the same mass of carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame. Since the 1980s, greenhouse gas forcing contributions (relative to year 1750) are also estimated with high accuracy using IPCC-recommended expressions derived from radiative transfer models.

The concentration of a greenhouse gas is typically measured in parts per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb) by volume. A CO2 concentration of 420 ppm means that 420 out of every million air molecules is a CO2 molecule. The first 30 ppm increase in CO2 concentrations took place in about 200 years, from the start of the Industrial Revolution to 1958; however the next 90 ppm increase took place within 56 years, from 1958 to 2014. Similarly, the average annual increase in the 1960s was only 37% of what it was in 2000 through 2007.

Many observations are available online in a variety of Atmospheric Chemistry Observational Databases. The table below shows the most influential long-lived, well-mixed greenhouse gases, along with their tropospheric concentrations and direct radiative forcings, as identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Abundances of these trace gases are regularly measured by atmospheric scientists from samples collected throughout the world. It excludes water vapor because changes in its concentrations are calculated as a climate change feedback indirectly caused by changes in other greenhouse gases, as well as ozone, whose concentrations are only modified indirectly by various refrigerants that cause ozone depletion. Some short-lived gases (e.g. carbon monoxide, NOx) and aerosols (e.g. mineral dust or black carbon) are also excluded because of limited role and strong variation, along with minor refrigerants and other halogenated gases, which have been mass-produced in smaller quantities than those in the table. and Annex III of the 2021 IPCC WG1 Report

IPCC list of greenhouse gases with lifetime, 100-year global warming potential, concentrations in the troposphere and radiative forcings. The abbreviations TAR, AR4, AR5 and AR6 refer to the different IPCC reports over the years. The baseline is pre-industrialization (year 1750).
Species Lifetime

(years)

100-yr

GWP

Mole Fraction + Radiative forcing Concentrations

over time

up to year 2022

Baseline

Year 1750

TAR

Year 1998

AR4

Year 2005

AR5

Year 2011

AR6

Year 2019

CO2 1 278 365 (1.46) 379 (1.66) 391 (1.82) 410 (2.16)
CH4 12.4 28 700 1,745 (0.48) 1,774 (0.48) 1,801 (0.48) 1866 (0.54)
N2O 121 265 270 314 (0.15) 319 (0.16) 324 (0.17) 332 (0.21)
CFC-11 45 4,660 0 268 (0.07) 251 (0.063) 238 (0.062) 226 (0.066)
CFC-12 100 10,200 0 533 (0.17) 538 (0.17) 528 (0.17) 503 (0.18)
CFC-13 640 13,900 0 4 (0.001) 2.7 (0.0007) 3.28 (0.0009) cfc13
CFC-113 85 6,490 0 84 (0.03) 79 (0.024) 74 (0.022) 70 (0.021)
CFC-114 190 7,710 0 15 (0.005) 16 (0.005) cfc114
CFC-115 1,020 5,860 0 7 (0.001) 8.37 (0.0017) 8.67 (0.0021) cfc115
HCFC-22 11.9 5,280 0 132 (0.03) 169 (0.033) 213 (0.0447) 247 (0.0528)
HCFC-141b 9.2 2,550 0 10 (0.001) 18 (0.0025) 21.4 (0.0034) 24.4 (0.0039)
HCFC-142b 17.2 5,020 0 11 (0.002) 15 (0.0031) 21.2 (0.0040) 22.3 (0.0043)
CH3CCl3 5 160 0 69 (0.004) 19 (0.0011) 6.32 (0.0004) 1.6 (0.0001)
CCl4 26 1,730 0 102 (0.01) 93 (0.012) 85.8 (0.0146) 78 (0.0129)
HFC-23 222 12,400 0 14 (0.002) 18 (0.0033) 24 (0.0043) 32.4 (0.0062)
HFC-32 5.2 677 0 4.92 (0.0005) 20 (0.0022)
HFC-125 28.2 3,170 0 3.7 (0.0009) 9.58 (0.0022) 29.4 (0.0069)
HFC-134a 13.4 1,300 0 7.5 (0.001) 35 (0.0055) 62.7 (0.0100) 107.6 (0.018)
HFC-143a 47.1 4,800 0 12.0 (0.0019) 24 (0.0040)
HFC-152a 1.5 138 0 0.5 (0.0000) 3.9 (0.0004) 6.4 (0.0006) 7.1 (0.0007)
CF4 (PFC-14) 50,000 6,630 40 80 (0.003) 74 (0.0034) 79 (0.0040) 85.5 (0.0051)
C2F6 (PFC-116) 10,000 11,100 0 3 (0.001) 2.9 (0.0008) 4.16 (0.0010) 4.85 (0.0013)
SF6 3,200 23,500 0 4.2 (0.002) 5.6 (0.0029) 7.28 (0.0041) 9.95 (0.0056)
SO2F2 36 4,090 0 1.71 (0.0003) 2.5 (0.0005)
NF3 500 16,100 0 0.9 (0.0002) 2.05 (0.0004)

Mole fractions: μmol/mol = ppm = parts per million (10); nmol/mol = ppb = parts per billion (10); pmol/mol = ppt = parts per trillion (10).

The IPCC states that "no single atmospheric lifetime can be given" for CO2. This is mostly due to the rapid growth and cumulative magnitude of the disturbances to Earth's carbon cycle by the geologic extraction and burning of fossil carbon. As of year 2014, fossil CO2 emitted as a theoretical 10 to 100 GtC pulse on top of the existing atmospheric concentration was expected to be 50% removed by land vegetation and ocean sinks in less than about a century, as based on the projections of coupled models referenced in the AR5 assessment. A substantial fraction (20–35%) was also projected to remain in the atmosphere for centuries to millennia, where fractional persistence increases with pulse size.

Values are relative to year 1750. AR6 reports the effective radiative forcing which includes effects of rapid adjustments in the atmosphere and at the surface.

Factors affecting concentrations

Atmospheric concentrations are determined by the balance between sources (emissions of the gas from human activities and natural systems) and sinks (the removal of the gas from the atmosphere by conversion to a different chemical compound or absorption by bodies of water).

Airborne fraction

Most CO2 emissions have been absorbed by carbon sinks, including plant growth, soil uptake, and ocean uptake (2020 Global Carbon Budget).

The proportion of an emission remaining in the atmosphere after a specified time is the "airborne fraction" (AF). The annual airborne fraction is the ratio of the atmospheric increase in a given year to that year's total emissions. The annual airborne fraction for CO2 had been stable at 0.45 for the past six decades even as the emissions have been increasing. This means that the other 0.55 of emitted CO2 is absorbed by the land and atmosphere carbon sinks within the first year of an emission. In the high-emission scenarios, the effectiveness of carbon sinks will be lower, increasing the atmospheric fraction of CO2 even though the raw amount of emissions absorbed will be higher than in the present.

Atmospheric lifetime

Estimated atmospheric methane lifetime before the industrial era (shaded area); changes in methane lifetime since 1850 as simulated by a climate model (blue line), and the reconciled graph (red line).

Major greenhouse gases are well mixed and take many years to leave the atmosphere.

The atmospheric lifetime of a greenhouse gas refers to the time required to restore equilibrium following a sudden increase or decrease in its concentration in the atmosphere. Individual atoms or molecules may be lost or deposited to sinks such as the soil, the oceans and other waters, or vegetation and other biological systems, reducing the excess to background concentrations. The average time taken to achieve this is the mean lifetime. This can be represented through the following formula, where the lifetime τ {\displaystyle \tau } of an atmospheric species X in a one-box model is the average time that a molecule of X remains in the box.

τ {\displaystyle \tau } can also be defined as the ratio of the mass m {\displaystyle m} (in kg) of X in the box to its removal rate, which is the sum of the flow of X out of the box ( F out {\displaystyle F_{\text{out}}} ), chemical loss of X ( L {\displaystyle L} ), and deposition of X ( D {\displaystyle D} ) (all in kg/s):

τ = m F out + L + D {\displaystyle \tau ={\frac {m}{F_{\text{out}}+L+D}}} .

If input of this gas into the box ceased, then after time τ {\displaystyle \tau } , its concentration would decrease by about 63%.

Changes to any of these variables can alter the atmospheric lifetime of a greenhouse gas. For instance, methane's atmospheric lifetime is estimated to have been lower in the 19th century than now, but to have been higher in the second half of the 20th century than after 2000. Carbon dioxide has an even more variable lifetime, which cannot be specified down to a single number. Scientists instead say that while the first 10% of carbon dioxide's airborne fraction (not counting the ~50% absorbed by land and ocean sinks within the emission's first year) is removed "quickly", the vast majority of the airborne fraction – 80% – lasts for "centuries to millennia". The remaining 10% stays for tens of thousands of years. In some models, this longest-lasting fraction is as large as 30%.

A comparison of CO2 persistence in the atmosphere with an exponential decay function with the same half-life.

During geologic time scales

This section is an excerpt from Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere § Concentrations in the geologic past.
CO2 concentrations over the last 500 Million years
Concentration of atmospheric CO2 over the last 40,000 years, from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present day. The current rate of increase is much higher than at any point during the last deglaciation.

Estimates in 2023 found that the current carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere may be the highest it has been in the last 14 million years. However the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report estimated similar levels 3 to 3.3 million years ago in the mid-Pliocene warm period. This period can be a proxy for likely climate outcomes with current levels of CO2.

Carbon dioxide is believed to have played an important effect in regulating Earth's temperature throughout its 4.54 billion year history. Early in the Earth's life, scientists have found evidence of liquid water indicating a warm world even though the Sun's output is believed to have only been 70% of what it is today. Higher carbon dioxide concentrations in the early Earth's atmosphere might help explain this faint young sun paradox. When Earth first formed, Earth's atmosphere may have contained more greenhouse gases and CO2 concentrations may have been higher, with estimated partial pressure as large as 1,000 kPa (10 bar), because there was no bacterial photosynthesis to reduce the gas to carbon compounds and oxygen. Methane, a very active greenhouse gas, may have been more prevalent as well.

Monitoring

Further information: Greenhouse gas monitoring, Greenhouse gas inventory, and Greenhouse gas emissions

Greenhouse gas monitoring involves the direct measurement of atmospheric concentrations and direct and indirect measurement of greenhouse gas emissions. Indirect methods calculate emissions of greenhouse gases based on related metrics such as fossil fuel extraction.

There are several different methods of measuring carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, including infrared analyzing and manometry. Methane and nitrous oxide are measured by other instruments, such as the range-resolved infrared differential absorption lidar (DIAL). Greenhouse gases are measured from space such as by the Orbiting Carbon Observatory and through networks of ground stations such as the Integrated Carbon Observation System.

The Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) is defined by atmospheric scientists at NOAA as the ratio of total direct radiative forcing due to long-lived and well-mixed greenhouse gases for any year for which adequate global measurements exist, to that present in year 1990. These radiative forcing levels are relative to those present in year 1750 (i.e. prior to the start of the industrial era). 1990 is chosen because it is the baseline year for the Kyoto Protocol, and is the publication year of the first IPCC Scientific Assessment of Climate Change. As such, NOAA states that the AGGI "measures the commitment that (global) society has already made to living in a changing climate. It is based on the highest quality atmospheric observations from sites around the world. Its uncertainty is very low."

Data networks

This section is an excerpt from Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere § Data networks. There are several surface measurement (including flasks and continuous in situ) networks including NOAA/ERSL, WDCGG, and RAMCES. The NOAA/ESRL Baseline Observatory Network, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Network data are hosted at the CDIAC at ORNL. The World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG), part of GAW, data are hosted by the JMA. The Reseau Atmospherique de Mesure des Composes an Effet de Serre database (RAMCES) is part of IPSL.

Types of sources

Natural sources

Further information: Carbon cycle

The natural flows of carbon between the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial ecosystems, and sediments are fairly balanced; so carbon levels would be roughly stable without human influence. Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere primarily through photosynthesis and enters the terrestrial and oceanic biospheres. Carbon dioxide also dissolves directly from the atmosphere into bodies of water (ocean, lakes, etc.), as well as dissolving in precipitation as raindrops fall through the atmosphere. When dissolved in water, carbon dioxide reacts with water molecules and forms carbonic acid, which contributes to ocean acidity. It can then be absorbed by rocks through weathering. It also can acidify other surfaces it touches or be washed into the ocean.

This section is an excerpt from Atmospheric carbon cycle.
Schematic representation of the overall perturbation of the global carbon cycle caused by anthropogenic activities, averaged from 2010 to 2019.
The atmospheric carbon cycle accounts for the exchange of gaseous carbon compounds, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2), between Earth's atmosphere, the oceans, and the terrestrial biosphere. It is one of the faster components of the planet's overall carbon cycle, supporting the exchange of more than 200 billion tons of carbon (i.e. gigatons carbon or GtC) in and out of the atmosphere throughout the course of each year. Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 remain stable over longer timescales only when there exists a balance between these two flows. Methane (CH4), Carbon monoxide (CO), and other human-made compounds are present in smaller concentrations and are also part of the atmospheric carbon cycle.

Human-made sources

Taking into account direct and indirect emissions, industry is the sector with the highest share of global emissions. Data as of 2019 from the IPCC.
Main article: Greenhouse gas emissions

The vast majority of carbon dioxide emissions by humans come from the burning of fossil fuels. Additional contributions come from cement manufacturing, fertilizer production, and changes in land use like deforestation. Methane emissions originate from agriculture, fossil fuel production, waste, and other sources.

If current emission rates continue then temperature rises will surpass 2.0 °C (3.6 °F) sometime between 2040 and 2070, which is the level the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says is "dangerous".

Most greenhouse gases have both natural and human-caused sources. An exception are purely human-produced synthetic halocarbons which have no natural sources. During the pre-industrial Holocene, concentrations of existing gases were roughly constant, because the large natural sources and sinks roughly balanced. In the industrial era, human activities have added greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, mainly through the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests.

This section is an excerpt from Greenhouse gas emissions § Overview of main sources.

The major anthropogenic (human origin) sources of greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N
2O), methane and three groups of fluorinated gases (sulfur hexafluoride (SF
6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs, sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3)). Though the greenhouse effect is heavily driven by water vapor, human emissions of water vapor are not a significant contributor to warming.

Although CFCs are greenhouse gases, they are regulated by the Montreal Protocol which was motivated by CFCs' contribution to ozone depletion rather than by their contribution to global warming. Ozone depletion has only a minor role in greenhouse warming, though the two processes are sometimes confused in the media. In 2016, negotiators from over 170 nations meeting at the summit of the United Nations Environment Programme reached a legally binding accord to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. The use of CFC-12 (except some essential uses) has been phased out due to its ozone depleting properties. The phasing-out of less active HCFC-compounds will be completed in 2030.

Reducing human-caused greenhouse gases

Main article: Climate change mitigation

Needed emissions cuts

This section is an excerpt from Climate change mitigation § Needed emissions cuts.
Global greenhouse gas emission scenarios, based on policies and pledges as of 11/21

The annual "Emissions Gap Report" by UNEP stated in 2022 that it was necessary to almost halve emissions. "To get on track for limiting global warming to 1.5°C, global annual GHG emissions must be reduced by 45 per cent compared with emissions projections under policies currently in place in just eight years, and they must continue to decline rapidly after 2030, to avoid exhausting the limited remaining atmospheric carbon budget." The report commented that the world should focus on broad-based economy-wide transformations and not incremental change.

In 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Sixth Assessment Report on climate change. It warned that greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030 to have a good chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F). Or in the words of Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres: "Main emitters must drastically cut emissions starting this year".

Removal from the atmosphere through negative emissions

Main articles: Carbon dioxide removal, Net zero emissions, and Carbon sink

Several technologies remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. Most widely analyzed are those that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, either to geologic formations such as bio-energy with carbon capture and storage and carbon dioxide air capture, or to the soil as in the case with biochar. Many long-term climate scenario models require large-scale human-made negative emissions to avoid serious climate change.

Negative emissions approaches are also being studied for atmospheric methane, called atmospheric methane removal.

History of discovery

Further information: History of climate change science and Greenhouse effect § History
This 1912 article succinctly describes how burning coal creates carbon dioxide that causes climate change.

In the late 19th century, scientists experimentally discovered that N
2 and O
2 do not absorb infrared radiation (called, at that time, "dark radiation"), while water (both as true vapor and condensed in the form of microscopic droplets suspended in clouds) and CO2 and other poly-atomic gaseous molecules do absorb infrared radiation. In the early 20th century, researchers realized that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere made Earth's overall temperature higher than it would be without them. The term greenhouse was first applied to this phenomenon by Nils Gustaf Ekholm in 1901.

During the late 20th century, a scientific consensus evolved that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere cause a substantial rise in global temperatures and changes to other parts of the climate system, with consequences for the environment and for human health.

Other planets

Further information: Greenhouse effect § Bodies other than Earth

Greenhouse gases exist in many atmospheres, creating greenhouse effects on Mars, Titan, and particularly in the thick atmosphere of Venus. While Venus has been described as the ultimate end state of runaway greenhouse effect, such a process would have virtually no chance of occurring from any increases in greenhouse gas concentrations caused by humans, as the Sun's brightness is too low and it would likely need to increase by some tens of percents, which will take a few billion years.

See also

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