Greenhouse gases: What is their role in climate change

Conference · Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:6447906

Edmonds, J A; Chandler, W U ^[1]; Wuebbles, D ^[2]

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1. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)

This paper summarizes information relevant to understanding the role of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It examines the nature of the greenhouse effect, the Earth's radiation budget, the concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere, how these concentrations have been changing, natural processes which regulate these concentrations of greenhouse gases, residence times of these gases in the atmosphere, and the rate of release of gases affecting atmospheric composition by human activities. We address the issue of the greenhouse effect itself in the first section. In the second section we examine trends in atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases and emissions sources. In the third section, we examine the natural carbon cycle and its role in determining the atmospheric residence time of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}). In the fourth section, we examine the role atmospheric chemistry plays in the determining the concentrations of greenhouse gases. This paper is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of these issues. Exhaustive treatments can be found in other volumes, many of which are cited throughout this paper. Rather, this paper is intended to summarize some of the major findings, unknowns, and uncertainties associated with the current state of knowledge regarding the role of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 57 refs., 11 figs., 11 tabs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6447906
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-18815; CONF-901262-1; ON: DE91005447
• Resource Relation: Conference: Dahlem workshop on limiting greenhouse effect: options for controlling atmospheric CO sub 2 accumulation, Berlin (Germany, F.R.), 9-14 Dec 1990
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
AIR POLLUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
FOSSIL FUELS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
STATISTICAL MODELS
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
CARBON CYCLE
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON SINKS
CHLORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
CLIMATES
DEFORESTATION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ENERGY BALANCE
FLUORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
GASES
HEAT SINKS
LAND USE
METHANE
NITROUS OXIDE
OZONE
SOLAR RADIATION
ALKANES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FUELS
HALOGENATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
HYDROCARBONS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN OXIDES
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
RADIATIONS
SINKS
STELLAR RADIATION
540120* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
200500 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Environmental Aspects- (1990-)