Category: Greenhouse_Gases_Key

Methane is the world’s simplest hydrocarbon, with a chemical formula of CH4 (one atom of carbon and four

Raise the alarm for countries to reduce methane and carbon dioxide pollution. Join the methane movement. #cutmethane

Many chemical compounds present in Earth’s atmosphere behave as ‘greenhouse gases’. These are gases which allow direct sunlight (relative shortwave energy) to reach the Earth’s surface unimpeded. As the shortwave energy (that in the visible and ultraviolet portion of the spectra) heats the surface, longer-wave (infrared) energy (heat) is reradiated to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases absorb this energy, thereby allowing less heat to escape back to space, and ‘trapping’ it in the lower atmosphere.

Did you ever wonder what reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 1 million metric tons means in everyday terms? The greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator can help you understand just that, translating abstract measurements into concrete terms you can understand, such as the annual emissions from cars, households, or power plants.

The world’s countries emit vastly different amounts of heat-trapping  gases into the atmosphere. The chart above and table below both show data compiled by the International Energy Agency, which estimates carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from the combustion of coal, natural gas, oil, and other fuels, including industrial waste and non-renewable municipal waste.

Rising global temperatures are causing climate-related natural disasters, and one of the biggest culprits is in plain sight: Buildings. In total, buildings account for about 40% of annual fossil fuel carbon-dioxide emissions (CO2), leading to increases in flooding, fires, hurricanes, and billions of dollars in annual damage. It’s a global emergency of our own making. And if we don’t take action now, we’ll help to accelerate global warming—irreversibly changing life as we know it.

At the global scale, the key greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are: Carbon dioxide (CO₂): Fossil fuel use is the primary source of CO₂. CO₂ can also be emitted from direct human-induced impacts on forestry and other land use, such as through deforestation, land clearing for agriculture, and degradation of soils.

The Global Carbon Project (GCP) integrates knowledge of greenhouse gases for human activities and the Earth system. Our projects include global budgets for three dominant greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — and complementary efforts in urban, regional, cumulative, and negative emissions.