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New greenhouse gas ‘4,800 times more potent’ than carbonJeremy Hancemongabay.com March 12, 2009
Sulfuryl fluoride was introduced as a replacement for methyl bromide. An ozone-depleting gas, methyl bromide, is currently being phased out under the international treaty on substances that deplete the ozone layer, a.k.a the Montreal Protocol. However the new study on sulfuryl fluoride published in the Journal of Geophysical Research proves that the solution may be worse than the problem. "Our analysis has shown that the lifetime [for sulfuryl fluoride] is about 36 years, or eight times greater than previously thought, with the ocean being its dominant sink," says Ron Prinn, co-author of the paper and director of MIT’s Center for Global Change Science. A new understaning of the gases’ lifespan combined with studies of its infrared-absorbing properties by NOAA “indicate that, ton for ton, it is about 4,800 times more potent a heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide" says Prinn. Currently, the gas is only 1.5 parts per trillion in the atmosphere. This is a very small quantity: for example Carbon dioxide has reached 387 parts per million and methane 1,745 parts per billion. However, sulfuryl flouride has been rising 5 percent per year. The scientists hope that discovering the potency of sulfuryl fluoride before it becomes industry standard, will allow time for the fumigation industry to develop less threatening substitutes. "Given human inventiveness, there are surely other alternatives out there," says Prinn. Related articles Aquatic animals emit powerful greenhouse gas (03/02/2009) A number of water-dwelling species emit the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, researchers announced today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Although nitrous oxide is low in concentration globally, it is considered the fourth largest contributor to climate change. This is due to its potency: in a hundred year period nitrous oxide by weight packs 310 times more punch as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. CO2 levels rise to a new record (02/17/2009) Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations climbed 2.28 parts-per-million (ppm) in 2008 to the highest level in at least 650,000 years — and possibly 20 million years — reports NOAA. Germany meets Kyoto target for CO2 emissions (11/28/2008) Germany has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions below levels mandated under the Kyoto Protocol reports Bloomberg. Industrialized countries slow to reduce emissions (11/17/2008) Industrialized countries are making slow progress in reducing emissions as pledged under the Kyoto Protocol, finds a new U.N. assessment of global emissions. Solar cells, flat-panel screens are source of potent greenhouse gas (10/23/2008) Atmospheric concentrations of nitrogen trifluoride — a gas used in the manufacture of liquid crystal flat-panel displays, thin-film photovoltaic cells and microcircuits — are at least four times higher than previously estimated, reports a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. CO2 emissions accelerate 400% as world turns to dirtier fuels (09/26/2008) Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose at a record clip in 2007, according to the Global Carbon Project's annual overview of the greenhouse gas.
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