ISSN 1006-9895

CN 11-1768/O4

Radiative Forcing and Global Warming Potentials of CH4 and N2O
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    Abstract:

    As the main long-lived greenhouse gases, CH4 and N2O are included in the Kyoto Protocol, and countries are required to limit the rapid increase in their emissions since the Industrial Revolution. In this work, a radiative transfer model with a high resolution of 998 bands is used to calculate the instantaneous radiative efficiencies, stratospheric- adjusted radiative efficiencies, and lifetime-adjusted radiative efficiencies of CH4 and N2O for clear and cloudy skies, as well as their global warming potentials (GWPs) and global temperature potentials (GTPs). Simple fitting formulas for calculating the adjusted radiative forcing due to CH4 and N2O are given on the basis of the model results in this work. It is shown that the radiative efficiencies of CH4 and N2O for cloudy skies are 4.142×10-4 W m-2 ppb-1 (1ppb=10-9) and 3.125×10-3 W m-2 ppb-1 after stratospheric adjustment, and 3.732×10-4 W m-2 ppb-1 and 2.987×10-3 W m-2 ppb-1, respectively, after lifetime adjustment, which are highly consistent with those of the IPCC (2007). Moreover, the 100-year GWPs of CH4 and N2O are 16 and 266, respectively, and their corresponding 100-year GTPs are 18 and 268 for sustained emissions, and 0.24 and 233 for pulse emissions. These results indicate that CH4 and N2O will still play a critical role in future global warming, second only to CO2.

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History
  • Received:February 06,2012
  • Revised:October 30,2012
  • Adopted:
  • Online: April 28,2013
  • Published: