Greenhouse Gases and Their Role in Climate Change

The chapter begins with a comprehensive review of the representative greenhouse gases and their role in the Earth’s radiative balance. Eight greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFC-23, HFC-134a, PFC, SF6, and NF3) and their contributions to radiative heating of the atmosphere are analyzed, and the mechanisms associated with global warming potential are discussed. To illustrate the reported evidence of changes in the radiative balance attributed to greenhouse gases, the correlation between the global temperature rise and the increase in atmospheric concentration of CO2, the most important greenhouse gas, is presented. The primary anthropogenic CO2 emission sources and the amount of CO2 emissions by region, and the disturbance of anthropogenic CO2 emission to global carbon cycle are discussed. At the conclusion of this chapter, a brief review of global actions to mitigate anthropogenic CO2 emissions is presented.