List of Greenhouse Gases

By Irina Bright.

This article is part of our Environment section

See the complete list of all our Pollution Articles here.

This list of greenhouse gases is an exact extract from the IPPC Report: Working Group I: The Physical Science Basis of Climate Change. Technocal Summary, pp. 33 - 34. Retrieved from: http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/Report/AR4WG1_Print_TS.pdf on June 17, 2008


Industrial Designation
or Common Name
Chemical
Formula
Lifetime (years)
Radiative Efficiency
(W m–2 ppb–1)
Global Warming Potential for
Given Time Horizon
SAR‡
(100-yr)		 20-yr 100-yr 500-yr
   
Carbon dioxide CO2
See below a
b 1.4x10–5
1
1
1
1
Methane c CH4
12 c
3.7x10–4
21
72
25
7.6
Nitrous oxide N2O
114
3.03x10–3
310
289
298
153
Substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol
CFC-11 CCl3F
45
0.25
3,800
6,730
4,750
1,620
CFC-12 CCl2F2
100
0.32
8,100
11,000
10,900
5,200
CFC-13 CClF3
640
0.25
10,800
14,400
16,400
CFC-113 CCl2FCClF2
85
0.3
4,800
6,540
6,130
2,700
CFC-114 CClF2CClF2
300
0.31
8,040
10,000
8,730
CFC-115 CClF2CF3
1,700
0.18
5,310
7,370
9,990
Halon-1301 CBrF3
65
0.32
5,400
8,480
7,140
2,760
Halon-1211 CBrClF2
16
0.3
4,750
1,890
575
Halon-2402 CBrF2CBrF2
20
0.33
3,680
1,640
503
Carbon tetrachloride CCl4
26
0.13
1,400
2,700
1,400
435
Methyl bromide CH3Br
0.7
0.01
17
5
1
Methyl chloroform CH3CCl3
5
0.06
506
146
45
HCFC-22 CHClF2
12
0.2
1,500
5,160
1,810
549
HCFC-123 CHCl2CF3
1.3
0.14
90
273
77
24
HCFC-124 CHClFCF3
5.8
0.22
470
2,070
609
185
HCFC-141b CH3CCl2F
9.3
0.14
2,250
725
220
HCFC-142b CH3CClF2
17.9
0.2
1,800
5,490
2,310
705
HCFC-225ca CHCl2CF2CF3
1.9
0.2
429
122
37
HCFC-225cb CHClFCF2CClF2
5.8
0.32
2,030
595
181
Hydrofluorocarbons
HFC-23 CHF3
270
0.19
11,700
12,000
14,800
12,200
HFC-32 CH2F2
4.9
0.11
650
2,330
675
205
HFC-125 CHF2CF3
29
0.23
2,800
6,350
3,500
1,100
HFC-134a CH2FCF3
14
0.16
1,300
3,830
1,430
435
HFC-143a CH3CF3
52
0.13
3,800
5,890
4,470
1,590
HFC-152a CH3CHF2
1.4
0.09
140
437
124
38
HFC-227ea CF3CHFCF3
34.2
0.26
2,900
5,310
3,220
1,040
HFC-236fa CF3CH2CF3
240
0.28
6,300
8,100
9,810
7,660
HFC-245fa CHF2CH2CF3
7.6
0.28
3,380
1,030
314
HFC-365mfc CH3CF2CH2CF3
8.6
0.21
2,520
794
241
HFC-43-10mee CF3CHFCHFCF2CF3
15.9
0.4
1,300
4,140
1,640
500
Perfluorinated compounds
Sulphur hexafluoride SF6
3,200
0.52
23,900
16,300
22,800
32,600
Nitrogen trifluoride NF3
740
0.21
12,300
17,200
20,700
PFC-14 CF4
50,000
0.10
6,500
5,210
7,390
11,200
PFC-116 C2F6
10,000
0.26
9,200
8,630
12,200
18,200
PFC-218 C3F8
2,600
0.26
7,000
6,310
8,830
12,500
PFC-318 c-C4F8
3,200
0.32
8,700
7,310
10,300
14,700
PFC-3-1-10 C4F10
2,600
0.33
7,000
6,330
8,860
12,500
PFC-4-1-12 C5F12
4,100
0.41
6,510
9,160
13,300
PFC-5-1-14 C6F14
3,200
0.49
7,400
6,600
9,300
13,300
PFC-9-1-18 C10F18
>1,000 d
0.56
>5,500
>7,500
>9,500
trifluoromethyl sulphur pentafluoride SF5CF3
800
0.57
13,200
17,700
21,200
Fluorinated ethers
HFE-125 CHF2OCF3
136
0.44
13,800
14,900
8,490
HFE-134 CHF2OCHF2
26
0.45
12,200
6,320
1,960
HFE-143a CH3OCF3
4.3
0.27
2,630
756
230
HCFE-235da2 CHF2OCHClCF3
2.6
0.38
1,230
350
106
HFE-245cb2 CH3OCF2CHF2
5.1
0.32
2,440
708
215
HFE-245fa2 CHF2OCH2CF3
4.9
0.31
2,280
659
200
HFE-254cb2 CH3OCF2CHF2
2.6
0.28
1,260
359
109
HFE-347mcc3 CH3OCF2CF2CF3
5.2
0.34
1,980
575
175
HFE-347pcf2 CHF2CF2OCH2CF3
7.1
0.25
1,900
580
175
HFE-356pcc3 CH3OCF2CF2CHF2
0.33
0.93
386
110
33
HFE-449sl (HFE-7100) C4F9OCH3
3.8
0.31
1,040
297
90
HFE-569sf2 (HFE-7200) C4F9OC2H5
0.77
0.3
207
59
18
HFE-43-10pccc124 (H-Galden 1040x) CHF2OCF2OC2F4OCHF2
6.3
1.37
6,320
1,870
569
HFE-236ca12 (HG-10) CHF2OCF2OCHF2
12.1
0.66
8,000
2,800
860
HFE-338pcc13 (HG-01) CHF2OCF2CF2OCHF2
6.2
0.87
5,100
1,500
460
Perfluoropolyethers
PFPMIE CF3OCF(CF3)CF2OCF2OCF3
800
0.65
7,620
10,300
12,400
Hydrocarbons and other compounds – Direct Effects
Dimethylether CH3OCH3
0.015
0.02
1
1
<<1
Methylene chloride CH2Cl2
0.38
0.03
31
8.7
2.7
Methyl chloride CH3Cl
1.0
0.01
45
13
4

Notes:

‡ SAR refers to the IPCC Second Assessment Report (1995) used for reporting under the UNFCCC.

a The CO2 response function used in this report is based on the revised version of the Bern Carbon cycle model used in Chapter 10 of this report (Bern2.5CC; Joos et al. 2001) using a background CO2 concentration value of 378 ppm. The decay of a pulse of CO2 with time t is given by where a0 = 0.217, a1 = 0.259, a2 = 0.338, a3 = 0.186, τ1 = 172.9 years, τ2 = 18.51 years, and τ3 = 1.186 years, for t < 1,000 years.

b The radiative efficiency of CO2 is calculated using the IPCC (1990) simplified expression as revised in the TAR, with an updated background concentration value of 378 ppm and a perturbation of +1 ppm (see Section 2.10.2).

c The perturbation lifetime for CH4 is 12 years as in the TAR (see also Section 7.4). The GWP for CH4 includes indirect effects from enhancements of ozone and stratospheric water vapour (see Section 2.10).

d The assumed lifetime of 1000 years is a lower limit.