Question
Download Solution PDFWhich of the following greenhouse gases is most abundant in the atmosphere?
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)
Detailed Solution
Download Solution PDFThe correct answer is Water Vapour.
Key Points
- Greenhouse gasses
- A greenhouse gas, often known as a greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG), is a gas that creates the greenhouse effect by absorbing and radiating heat infrared light.
- Water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and ozone are the planet's main greenhouse gases (O3).
- Without greenhouse gases, the average surface temperature of the Earth would be closer to -18 °C (0 °F) than it is today, which is 15 °C (59 °F).
- Greenhouse gases are found in the atmospheres of Venus, Mars, and Titan.
Additional Information
- Water Vapour
- Water vapour, or aqueous vapour are all terms for the gaseous state of water.
- It is a particular kind of water condition inside the hydrosphere.
- Water vapour can be created by the boiling or evaporation of liquid water as well as by the sublimation of ice.
- Water vapour is continuously produced by evaporation and eliminated by condensation in a normal atmosphere.
- It causes convection currents that can result in clouds since it is less dense than the majority of the other air constituents.
Important Points
- Carbon dioxide
- The most significant contributor to the warming effect, accounting for 64% of the total.
- Carbon dioxide is long-lived in the atmosphere, with 40% remaining after 100 years, 20% after 1,000 years, and 10% after 10,000 years.
- Methane
- The second-largest contributor, accounting for 19% of the total.
- Methane is more potent than carbon dioxide, with a global warming impact that's almost 30 times greater over 100 years.
- Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
- The third-largest contributor, accounting for 8.1% of the total.
- CFCs were widely used in the mid-1900s, but they are still long-lived in the atmosphere.
- Nitrous oxide
- A powerful greenhouse gas with a GWP that's around 270 times that of carbon dioxide.
- It remains in the atmosphere for a little more than a century.
- Other greenhouse gases include:
- Fluorinated gases
- Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)
- Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
- Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
- Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)
- Nitrogen triflouride (NF3)
Last updated on Jun 13, 2025
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