A new greenhouse gas with a potential lifetime of hundreds of years has been discovered in the atmosphere, according to a new study. It’s 7,000 times more powerful than CO2.
A greenhouse gas is any gas that absorbs infrared radiation, which is released from the surface of the Earth. Some occur naturally, while others are manmade, including the newly discovered gas, perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA). PFTBA has been used for decades in electrical equipment, according to a release, but had not been found in the atmosphere until now.
“Calculated over a 100-year timeframe, a single molecule of PFTBA has the equivalent climate impact as 7,100 molecules of CO2,” Angela Hong, a chemist at University of Toronto and one of the researchers who made the discovery, said in a release.
The gas was found at a concentration of .18 parts per trillion, which is “so terribly small,” Viney Aneja, a professor of air quality at North Carolina State University not involved in the research, told weather.com. Carbon dioxide levels currently hover at around 400 parts per million, which is 400 million parts per trillion.
“The lifetime of the specie [gas] is relatively large, and since it’s relatively large it will continue to accumulate in the atmosphere,” Aneja said. “As it continues to accumulate in the atmosphere, then its consequence may be significant on all sorts of different issues. But right now it is only .1 parts per trillion.”
Aneja said the discovery is important and the effects of the gas on both human health and the environment will need to be studied.
The research is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
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