7 ms·
I am on a bus, but I want to point out here that CO2 is a powerful greenhouse gas because of its volume and its residence time. Its half-life in the atmosphere
by lithiumfrost 8y ago
I am on a bus, but I want to point out here that CO2 is a powerful greenhouse gas because of its volume and its residence time. Its half-life in the atmosphere is far far longer than the H2O molecule, so its corresponding contribution to the greenhouse effect is also greater over time.
- credit_guy 8y agoIt depends how you look at that. Currently about 1/3 of our carbon emission are absorbed by the ocean [1]. H2O is pretty much entirely absorbed by the ocean, and then re-released (the well-known water cycle in the nature). Now, when people say that the half-life of CO2 in the atmosphere is 1000 years or so, they generally neglect that part where some CO2 is dissolved in the ocean, presumably because it can be re-released later. But that's (trivially) the same with H2O. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solubility_pump#Anthropogenic_changes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solubility_pump#Anthropogenic_...