I’ve been trying to find out why methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The best I can figure out is that methane’s structure means it absorbs infrared better than carbon dioxide, but why?
In: Chemistry
Polutants are often given a ranked value for global warming, often comparing it to CO2. There are several reasons that a pollutant can have a larger effect:
1. Global warming is caused by the release of chemicals in the atmosphere that absorb/block the flow of heat out of earth’s atmosphere. Gasses like CO2 or methane, or suspended particles like ash or water clouds will absorb infrared light, which is a major way that earth sends heat out into space. The greenhouse chemicals in the atmosphere trap the infrared light from escaping, so it has to remain as heat on Earth’s surface.
2. Other greenhouse chemicals don’t directly cause warming, but can indirectly cause damage. For instance, some chemicals act as catalysts which destroy helpful chemicals, or help build up harmful chemicals. For instance, a group of chemicals known as CFCs are very good at destroying ozone gas, which is an important part of Earth’s natural protective shield from harmful solar radiation. Each CFC molecule can destroy thousands of ozone molecules and therefore have a very harmful indirect effect.
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