| Which Substances Contribute to Climate Change? |
|
Many of our domestic and industrial activities produce gases, which contribute to the enhanced greenhouse effect, to depleting the ozone layer, or both. |
| Pre-industrial concentration (1750-1800) | 1990 concentration | Annual rate of growth | Atmospheric lifetime (years) | GWP | |
| Carbon dioxide | 280ppmv | 353ppmv | 1.8ppmv 0.5%` |
50-200 | 1 |
| Methane | 0.8ppmv | 1.72ppmv | 0.015ppmv 0.9% |
10 | 11 |
| CFC-11 | 0 | 280pptv | 9.5pptv 4% |
65 | 5000 |
| CFC-12 | 0 | 484pptv | 17pptv 4% |
130 | 5000 |
| Nitrous oxide | 288ppbv | 310ppbv | 0.8ppbv 0.25% |
150 | 260 |
| Pre-industrial concentration (1750-1800) |
ODP | |
| CFC-11 | 0 | 1.0 |
| CFC-12 | 0 | 1.0 |
| CFC-113 | 0 | 0.8 |
| CFC-115 | 0 | 0.6 |
| HCFC-123 | 0 | 0.02 |
| HCFC-141b | 0 | 0.11 |
| HFC-32 | 0 | 0 |
| HFC-134a | 0 | 0 |
| ppmv | parts per million by volume |
| ppbv | parts per billion by volume |
| pptv | parts per trillion by volume |
| GWP |
global warming potential
Based on taking carbon dioxide as unity |
| Atmospheric lifetime is the typical number of years that the gas spends in the stratosphere. For carbon dioxide this is a difficult figure to calculate because of its natural occurrence. | |
| ODP | ozone depletion potential |