Overview of Greenhouse Gases
In order, Earth's most abundant greenhouse gases are:
1) water vapor (H2O)
2) carbon dioxide(CO2)
3) atmospheric methane (CH4)
4) nitrous oxide (N2O)
5) ozone (O3)
6) chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)
Getting to Know Greenhouse Gases
A gas contributes to the greenhouse effect based on both how strong it is and how much there is.
For example, methane is about twenty to sixty times stronger as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but there are much smaller amounts of methane in the atmosphere. Therefore, methane’s contribution to the greenhouse effect is smaller than carbon dioxide.
When greenhouse gases are ranked according to their contribution to the greenhouse effect, the order of importance is:
- water vapor
- carbon dioxide
- methane
- ozone