THE greenhouse gases, those invisible bad guys who heat our planet, have no intention of stopping! In 2023, the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane And nitric oxide – the three main greenhouse gases caused by human activities – continued to rise, according to NOAA scientists. And while the increase wasn't as record-breaking as in past years, it was still substantial.
Have you ever wondered how we know these things? Well, there NOAA collects more than 15,000 air samples every year from monitoring stations around the world and analyzes them in its high-tech laboratory in Colorado. This work is critical to understanding the causes of climate change and to help the US monitor greenhouse gas emissions.
It appears that carbon dioxide is the ringleader among the greenhouse gases, as it is responsible for the majority of climate change. And think that CO2 levels today are more than 50% higher than in pre-industrial times!
Not just CO2: methane and nitrogen oxide in the greenhouse gas ballet
In addition to anhydride carbonicmethane is getting noticed for its effectiveness in retaining heat in the atmosphere, surpassing CO2 despite being less present. But there is another player in the field: nitrogen oxide, which is increasing mainly due to the use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture.
Did you know that almost half of CO2 emissions produced from the combustion of the fuels fossils has been absorbed by our oceans and terrestrial ecosystems? In particular, the oceans have done their part by absorbing about 90% of the heat in excess trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases, however contributing to the acidification of the oceans.
And speaking of methane, it appears that most of the increase since the 2000s is due to microbial emissions, such as those generated from livestock, agriculture and human and agricultural waste. Interesting, right?
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