Which of the following green house gases has the greatest heattrapping ability? A)Chlorofluoro carbon B)Methane C)Carbon dioxide D)Nitrous oxide
Option A) Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called green house gases. Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) are used to compare the abilities of different green house gases to trap heat in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is used as the base for all the calculations, so its global warming potential is 1.2. The higher the GWP, the more heat the specific gas can keep in the atmosphere. Fluorinated gases : Chlorofluorocarbons, Hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride : are synthetic, powerful greenhouse gases that have highest heat trapping abilities. These gases are 1,000; 10,000 even 20,000 times more powerful than Carbon dioxide (CO2) at trapping heat and many can stay in our atmosphere for thousands of years.