| Click to rotate molecule |
Concentration Units* (Click to see graph) |
Global Warming Potential (100-year)** |
Atmospheric lifetime (years)** |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon dioxide CO2 |
 |
 ppm  long term |
1 |
300-1000*** |
| Methane CH4 |
 |
 ppb  long term |
27.9 |
11.8 |
| Nitrous oxide N2O |
 |
 ppb  long term |
273 |
109 |
| Hydrogen H2 |
 |
 ppb |
1-2 |
|
| Carbon monoxide CO |
 |
 ppb |
1.9 |
0.25 |
| Trichlorofluoromethane CCl3F CFC-11 |
 |
 ppt |
5,560 |
52 |
| Dichlorodifluoromethane CCl2F2 CFC-12 |
 |
ppt |
11,200 |
102 |
| Trichlorotrifluoroethane CCl2FCClF2 CFC-113 |
 |
ppt |
6,520 |
93 |
| Carbon tetrachloride CCl4 |
 |
ppt |
2,200 |
32 |
| Chloroform CHCl3 |
 |
 ppt |
20.6 |
0.501 |
| Dichloromethane CH2Cl2 |
 |
 ppt |
11.2 |
0.493 |
| Difluoromethane CH2F2 HFC-32 50% of R-410A |
 |
 ppt |
771 |
5.4 |
| Methyl chloride CH3Cl |
 |
 ppt |
5.54 |
0.9 |
| Tetrachloroethene Cl2C=CCl2 Perchloroethylene (perc) |
 |
ppt |
6.34 |
0.301 |
| Methyl chloroform CH3CCl3 |
 |
 ppt |
161 |
5 |
| Chlorodifluoromethane CHClF2 HCFC-22 |
 |
 ppt |
1,960 |
11.9 |
| Chlorodifluoroethane CH3CClF2 HCFC-142b |
 |
 ppt |
2.300 |
18 |
| Dichlorofluoroethane CH3CFCl2 HCFC-141b |
 |
ppt |
860 |
9.4 |
| Difluoroethane CH3CHF2 HFC-152a |
 |
ppt |
164 |
1.6 |
| Tetrafluoroethane CH2FCF3 HFC-134a |
 |
ppt |
1,530 |
14 |
| 1,1,1-Trifluoroethane CH3CF3 HFC-143a |
 |
 ppt |
5,810 |
51 |
| Pentafluoroethane CHF2CF3 HFC-125 50% of R-410A |
 |
ppt |
3,740 |
30 |
| 2,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene CF3CF=CH2 HFO-1234yf |
 |
? ppq |
0.501 |
0.033 |
| Propane CH3CH2CH3 |
 |
? ppt |
0.02 |
0.036 |
| 1,1,1,3,3-Pentafluorobutane CF3CH2CF2CH3 HFC-365mfc |
 |
ppt |
914 |
8.9 |
| Fluoroform CHF3 HFC-23 |
 |
ppt |
14,600 |
228 |
| Perfluoroethane CF3CF3 PFC-116 |
 |
 ppt |
12,400 |
10,000 |
| Bromochlorodifluoromethane CBrClF2 Halon-1211 |
 |
 ppt |
1,930 |
16 |
| Methylbromide CH3Br |
 |
 ppt |
2.43 |
0.8 |
| Dibromotetrafluoroethane CBrF2CBrF2 Halon-2402 |
 |
ppt |
2,170 |
28 |
| Bromotrifluoromethane CBrF3 Halon-1301 |
 |
ppt |
7,200 |
72 |
| Sulfur hexafluoride SF6 |
 |
ppt |
25,200 |
3,200 |
| Trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride CF3SF5 |
 |
ppt |
18,500 |
800 |
| Nitrogen trifluoride NF3 |
 |
ppt |
17,400 |
569 |
| Carbon tetrafluoride CF4 PFC-14 |
 |
ppt |
7,380 |
50,000 |
Infrared spectral links are to the NIST Chemistry WebBook (%T, peaks down) or the Gasmet IR Spectrum Collection (A, peaks up).
Information about Sampling Sites.
*Concentration data from the Scripps CO2 Program,
the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (NASA and the MIT Center for Global Change Science),
Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network (U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration),
and the World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (Japan Meteorological Agency).
**The Global Warming Potential (GWP) is used to contrast different greenhouse gases and provides a simple measure
of the radiative effects of various greenhouse gases relative to CO2 defined as 1. Atmospheric lifetime is used to characterize the decay of an instanenous pulse input to the atmosphere,
and represents the time the input would take to decay to 0.368 (1/e) of its original value.
One hundred year time horizon GWPs and atmospheric lifetimes taken from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2021:
The Physical Science Basis, Table 7.SM.6, p. 16-27.
***IPCC no longer lists a value for the carbon dioxide lifetime. It depends on the biosphere and concentration-dependent equilibria between the atmosphere, the ocean, and deposition of CaCO3 on timescales of a few centuries.
See Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 37:117-34 (2009) and The Atmosphere: Getting a Handle on Carbon Dioxide (NASA 2019).
Earlier versions of these pages were supported by the National Science Foundation grants DUE-9455918 and DUE-9455924.
This page created by George Lisensky, Beloit College. Last modified August 14, 2022.