AtmosphereAtmosphere
Vaporous gas composition of the Earth's atmosphere near sea level:
| Substance | Symbol | Concentration * | duration + | rank |
| Nitrogen | N | 780,840 |
|
|
| Oxygen | O2 | 209,480 |
|
|
| Argon | Ar | 9,340 |
|
|
| Carbon Dioxide | CO2 | 396.1 383.1** |
variable to 120 + years |
4 |
|
|
|
|||
| Methane | CH4 | 1.7 | 12 - 18 years |
5 |
| Hydrogen | H2 | .55 |
6 |
|
| Nitrogen Oxides | NO | .251 |
7 |
|
| Nitrous Oxide | N2O | .31 | 121 years |
8 |
| Carbon Monoxide | CO | .1 | ||
| Ozone | O3 | .02 | ||
| Sulfur Dioxide | SO2 | .0002 | ||
| trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride | SF5 CF3 | .00000012*** | ||
| Other inert gases | 24.28 | |||
* in parts per million ppm, or ppmv (volume)
+ residency time in the atmosphere, how long a molecule, on average stays active in solution, or in the air.
** current measure: April 2012 at Mauna Loa.
375 parts per million or ppm circa 2004
In 1969, CO•2 measurement was 318 ppm. In 1990 it was 360 ppm.
Today it is increasing at more than the 50 year average rate of 1.5 ppm /annum. In 2000-2007, green house gas content of the atmosphere was increasing at 2 ppm in bad years and 1.7 ppm in good years.
*** 7-24-2000 discovered by atmospheric chemists
Carbon dioxide measured @ 383.1 ppm in 2007.
Carbon dioxide measured @ 394.45 ppm March, 2012.
U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA: Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide web site,
Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Change, Brasseur, Orlando, & Tyndall, eds. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). p. 9.
Mark Bush, Ecology of a Changing Planet. Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 2000. pp. 361-368.
§§§ Impacts §§§
Page authored by
Dr. J. Siry
September 7, 2005, April 3, 2012, May 19, 2012
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