Greenhouse Gases Global Warming Potential

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Greenhouse Gases Global Warming Potential

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Greenhouse Gases: Global Warming Potential

Table data referenced to the Updated Decay Response for the Bern Carbon Cycle Model and Future CO₂ Atmospheric Concentrations Held Constant at Current Levels

Species	Chemical Formula
Carbon Dioxide	CO₂
Methanec	CH₄
Nitrous Oxide	N₂O
HFC-23	CHF₃
HFC-32	CH₂F₂
HFC-41	CH₃F
HFC-43-10mee	C₅H₂F₁₀
HFC-125	C₂HF₅
HFC-134	C₂H₂F₄
HFC-134a	CH₂FCF₃
HFC-152a	C₂H₄F₂
HFC-143	C₂H₃F₃
HFC-143a	C₂H₃F₃
HFC-227ea	C₃HF₇
HFC-236fa	C₃H₂F₆
HFC-245ca	C₃H₃F₅
Sulfur hexafluoride	SF₆
Perfluoromethane	CF₄
Perfluoroethane	C₂F₆
Perfluoropropane	C₃F₈
Perfluorobutane	C₄F₁₀
Perfluorocyblobutane	c-C₄F₈
Perfluoropentane	C₅F₁₂
Perfluorohexane	C₆F₁₄

^a Water vapor has been omitted because of its shorter average residence time in the atmosphere (i.e., about 7 days).
^b Derived from the Bern carbon cycle model.
^cThe global warming potential (GWP) for methane includes indirect effects of tropospheric ozone production and stratospheric water vapor production.
^d The GWPs for ozone-depleting substances (including all CFCs, HCFCs, and halons, whose direct GWPs have been given in previous reports) are a sum of a direct (positive) component and an indirect (negative) component which depends strongly upon the effectiveness of each substance for ozone destruction. Generally, the halons are likely to have negative net GWPs, while those of the CFCs are likely to be positive over both 20-and 100- year time horizons.

Reference:

Houghton, John T., L. G. Meiro Filho, B.A. Callander, N. Harris, A. Kattenburg, and K. Maskell, Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, June 1996.