New, Dangerous Greenhouse Gas Tied to Global Warming

A recent study finds that one chemical’s emissions are four times more common in the atmosphere than previously thought, and thousands of times more effective at trapping heat than Carbon Dioxide.

What is this mystery gas?

Nitrogen trifluoride. Nitrogen trifluoride is one of several gases used during the manufacture of certain computer and television screens, and also in thin-film photovoltaic cells.

Oh my.  Once again we run into the old dilemma:  the manufacturing of the very thing meant to solve a crisis, is actually adding to the crisis.

Many industries used Nitrogen triflouride as a replacement for perfluorocarbons, another type of potent greenhouse gas.  At the time it was thought that only about 2 percent of the nitrogen trifluoride used in manufacturing, escaped into the atmosphere.

Nitrogen trifluoride is about 17,000 times more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.  However, emissions of the gas currently add up to only about 0.15 percent of the total human-produced global warming effect. It is estimated that the amount of this gas in the atmosphere is increasing by about 11 percent per year.

Carbon Dioxide is still, however, the main gas contributing to global warming.

Using new technology, a research team in California funded by Nasa, discovered that there are thousands more metric tons of the chemical in the atmosphere, than was previously thought.

Because the gas is used so frequently, and it’s dangers are not that well known, scientists have now recommended adding nitrogen trifluoride to the greenhouse gases regulated by the Kyoto Protocol.

Source: LiveScience

Photo:  Wikimedia Commons

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