Which gases are greenhouse gases ?
How strong are they compared to Carbon Dioxide ?

The information in the table below is sourced from the following web-sites :
http://www.ici.com/ICIPLC/ici-she/2003/pages/current/she_challenge_2005/data_tables.htm

Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change by
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996),

MIT's JPSPGC Report 44

Gas Formula Greenhouse
Factor
Carbon dioxide CO21
Carbon monoxide CO3
Methane CH421
Dichloro-methane CH2Cl29
Chloroform CHCl34
Carbon tetrachloride CCl41,400
CFC-11 CCl3F1,320
CFC-12 CCl2F26,650
CFC-13 CClF31,700
CFC-22 CHClF21,350
CFC-113 C2Cl3F39,300
Methyl perfluorideCF46,500
Ethyl perfluorideC2F69,200
Nitrous oxide N2O310
Nitrogen monoxide NO40
Nitrogen dioxide NO240

When was the Greenhouse Effect discovered ?

The first person to realise that Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat
was the French mathematician Baron Fourier (born 1768).

The first calculation of a Greenhouse Effect due to increased levels of Carbon dioxide
was made by the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius in the 1890s -
he calculated that doubling CO2 levels would increase temperatures by 5°C.
He suggested that the effect would be more marked at high latitudes.
He also concluded that low Carbon dioxide levels had brought on the Ice Ages.

The idea that human activities could actually bring on a Greenhouse Effect was first
put forward by the British scientist G.S. Callendar in 1938.

The American oceanographers Roger Revelle and David Keeling began monitoring
Carbon dioxide levels at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, in 1957 as part of the International Geophysical Year.
This record has been a vital source of data for investigating the Greenhouse Effect.

Other methods have pushed the data backward in history :




This represents mean 2005 temperatures relative to mean of 1951-1980 :
Temperature Anomaly for 2005 relative to 1951-80, courtesy of NASA GISS



Dave Kimble April 2005

DK's Home page

You can support my not-for-profit causes by making a donation by secure on-line transaction. Thank you.



dvi cable
dvi cable