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Global-warming Potential
Global warming potential (GWP) is a measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere over a specific time period, relative to carbon dioxide (). It is expressed as a multiple of warming caused by the same mass of carbon dioxide (). Therefore, by definition has a GWP of 1. For other gases it depends on how strongly the gas absorbs thermal radiation, how quickly the gas leaves the atmosphere, and the time frame considered. For example, methane has a GWP over 20 years (GWP-20) of 81.2. meaning that, 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 (e or eq or -e or -eq) can be calculated from the GWP. For any gas, it is the mass of that would warm the earth as much as the mass of that gas. Thus it provides a comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kigali Amendment
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to gradually reduce the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). It is a legally binding agreement designed to create rights and obligations in international law. The Montreal Protocol was originally created to preserve and restore the ozone layer; participating countries agreed to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), gases that had been causing ozone depletion. HFCs do not contain chlorine, so they do not cause ozone depletion, and therefore have been replacing CFCs under the Protocol. However, HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, so this amendment adds HFCs to the list of chemicals that countries promise to phase down. , 163 states and the European Union have ratified the Kigali Amendment. Background Many industrial products, including refrigerant, refrigerants and other cooling services, use HFCs. Originally, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were used i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural Gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium. Methane is a colorless and odorless gas, and, after carbon dioxide, is the second-greatest greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change. Because natural gas is odorless, a commercial odorizer, such as Methanethiol (mercaptan brand), that smells of hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs) is added to the gas for the ready detection of gas leaks. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is formed when layers of organic matter (primarily marine microorganisms) are thermally decomposed under oxygen-free conditions, subjected to intense heat and pressure underground over millions of years. The energy that the decayed organisms originally obtained from the sun via photosynthesis is stored as chemical energy within the molecules of methane and other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes it an economically attractive fuel, although capturing and storing it is difficult because it is a gas at standard temperature and pressure. In the Earth's atmosphere methane is transparent to visible light but absorbs infrared radiation, acting as a greenhouse gas. Methane is an Organic chemistry, organic Organic compound, compound, and among the simplest of organic compounds. Methane is also a hydrocarbon. Naturally occurring methane is found both below ground and under the seafloor and is formed by both geological and biological processes. The largest reservoir of methane is under the seafloor in the form of methane clathrates. When methane reaches the surface and the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere, it is known as atmospheric methane. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at normally-encountered concentrations it is odorless. As the source of carbon in the carbon cycle, atmospheric is the primary carbon source for life on Earth. In the air, carbon dioxide is transparent to visible light but absorbs infrared, infrared radiation, acting as a greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide is soluble in water and is found in groundwater, lakes, ice caps, and seawater. It is a trace gas Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, in Earth's atmosphere at 421 parts per million (ppm), or about 0.042% (as of May 2022) having risen from pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm or about 0.028%. Burning fossil fuels is the main cause of these increased concentrations, which are the primary cause of climate change.IPCC (2022Summary for pol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nitrogen Cycle
The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple chemical forms as it circulates among atmosphere, atmospheric, terrestrial ecosystem, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. The conversion of nitrogen can be carried out through both biological and physical processes. Important processes in the nitrogen cycle include nitrogen fixation, fixation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification. The majority of Earth's atmosphere (78%) is atmospheric nitrogen, making it the largest source of nitrogen. However, atmospheric nitrogen has limited availability for biological use, leading to a scarcity of usable nitrogen in many types of ecosystems. The nitrogen cycle is of particular interest to ecologists because nitrogen availability can affect the rate of key ecosystem processes, including primary production and decomposition. Human activities such as fossil fuel combustion, use of artificial nitrogen fertilizers, and release of nitrogen in w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denitrification
Denitrification is a microbially facilitated process where nitrate (NO3−) is reduced and ultimately produces molecular nitrogen (N2) through a series of intermediate gaseous nitrogen oxide products. Facultative anaerobic bacteria perform denitrification as a type of respiration that reduces oxidized forms of nitrogen in response to the oxidation of an electron donor such as organic matter. The preferred nitrogen electron acceptors in order of most to least thermodynamically favorable include nitrate (NO3−), nitrite (NO2−), nitric oxide (NO), nitrous oxide (N2O) finally resulting in the production of dinitrogen (N2) completing the nitrogen cycle. Denitrifying microbes require a very low oxygen concentration of less than 10%, as well as organic C for energy. Since denitrification can remove NO3−, reducing its leaching to groundwater, it can be strategically used to treat sewage or animal residues of high nitrogen content. Denitrification can leak N2O, which is an ozone-d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nitrous Oxide
Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless Flammability#Definitions, non-flammable gas, and has a slightly sweet scent and taste. At elevated temperatures, nitrous oxide is a powerful Oxidising agent, oxidiser similar to molecular oxygen. Nitrous oxide has significant Nitrous oxide (medication), medical uses, especially in surgery and dentistry, for its Anesthesia, anaesthetic and Analgesic, pain-reducing effects, and it is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Its colloquial name, "laughing gas", coined by Humphry Davy, describes the Euphoria, euphoric effects upon inhaling it, which cause it to be used as a recreational drug inducing a brief "Dissociative, high". When abused chronically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atmospheric Methane
Atmospheric methane is the methane present in Earth's atmosphere. The concentration of atmospheric methane is increasing due to methane emissions, and is causing climate change. Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Methane's radiative forcing (RF) of climate is direct, and it is the second largest contributor to human-caused climate forcing in the historical period. Methane is a major source of water vapour in the stratosphere through oxidation; and water vapour adds about 15% to methane's radiative forcing effect. The global warming potential (GWP) for methane is about 84 in terms of its impact over a 20-year timeframe, and 28 in terms of its impact over a 100-year timeframe. See Table 8.7. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (around 1750), the methane concentration in the atmosphere has increased by about 160%, and human activities almost entirely caused this increase. Since 1750 methane has contributed 3% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in terms of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IPCC Sixth Assessment Report
The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the sixth in a series of reports which assess the available scientific information on climate change. Three Working Groups (WGI, II, and III) covered the following topics: The Physical Science Basis (WGI); Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (WGII); Mitigation of Climate Change (WGIII). Of these, the first study was published in 2021, the second report February 2022, and the third in April 2022. The final synthesis report was finished in March 2023. It includes a summary for policymakers and was the basis for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai. The first of the three working groups published its report on 9 August 2021, ''Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis''.IPCC, 2021Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Climate Leadership And Community Protection Act
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) is a plan signed into law on July 18, 2019 to address climate change and reach net zero emissions in New York State. The Act sets the goals to reduce emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and then to 85% below 1990 levels by 2050. The remaining 15% of emissions will be offset, such as by planting trees which take carbon dioxide out of the air, to reach net zero emissions. Specific emission targets by sector One of the main hurdles to reaching this goal is dramatically transferring the source of energy within New York State. By 2030, New York aims to get 70% its electricity from renewable sources and by 2040 the goal is to have all the state's electricity come from carbon-free sources like wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local bre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
