Researchers have found a never-before-seen greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, and breaks records with its potential for destruction.
The long-lived greenhouse gas (LLGHG) may contribute to climate change more than any atmospheric chemical seen in the past, a University of Toronto news release reported.
Perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA) is a chemical that is the most radiatively efficient known chemical; this is a measure of how much effect a molecule can have on the climate. Researchers generally also factor in the length of time the chemical exists in the atmosphere in order to accurately predict how much of a threat it is to the atmosphere.
"This value is then multiplied by its atmospheric concentration to determine the total climate impact," the news release reported.
Earth's atmosphere has been exposed to PFTBA since the middle of the 20th century. It was used for a wide range of applications such as in electrical equipment. Today it is used in "thermally and chemically stable liquids" that are used in electrical testing thermal transfer.
The chemical is not naturally occurring, and can only be made with human hands.
"Global warming potential is a metric used to compare the cumulative effects of different greenhouse gases on climate over a specified time period," Cora Young, a member of the U of T research team, said in the news release.
There is currently no known way to destroy PFTBA in the atmosphere.
"PFTBA is extremely long-lived in the atmosphere and it has a very high radiative efficiency; the result of this is a very high global warming potential. Calculated over a 100-year timeframe, a single molecule of PFTBA has the equivalent climate impact as 7,100 molecules of CO2," Angela Hong, another member of the research team, said in the news release.
Carbon is often used as a baseline for comparison because it is thought of as the most important climate change contributor.
