Scientists in Canada have revealed the discovery of a greenhouse gas with unprecedented potential to warm the Earth, and say the chemical has been lurking in the atmosphere for decades.
Scientists at the University of Toronto said in a statement the substance, perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), “is the most radiatively efficient chemical found to date, breaking all other chemical records for its potential to impact climate”.
The man-made chemical has been used in artificial blood and electrical equipment since the mid-20th century, and currently is used for electronic testing and as a heat transfer agent.
It has only now been determined to affect climate, and according to the University of Toronto chemists, there are no known processes for destroying or removing it from the lower atmosphere.
“So it has a very long lifetime, possibly hundreds of years,” said researcher Professor Cora Young.
“Calculated over a 100-year time frame, a single molecule of PFTBA has the equivalent climate impact as 7100 molecules of CO2,” added her colleague Dr Angela Hong.
The findings were published in the online edition of Geophysical Research Letters.
The scientists report nothing in nature absorbs or breaks down the chemical, which means PFBTA will still be insulating the planet centuries from now.
Unlike PFBTA, many other greenhouse gases eventually disappear from the air.
For example, plants absorb carbon dioxide and thereby reduce its quantity in the atmosphere.
“PFTBA is extremely long-lived in the atmosphere and it has a very high radiative efficiency; the result of this is a very high global warming potential,” said Dr Hong, of the University of Toronto and lead author of the study published in Geophysical Research Letters.
“Calculated over a 100-year time frame, a single molecule of PFTBA has the equivalent climate impact as 7100 molecules of CO2,” she added.
By recognising that PFBTA has such a potential to trap heat, manufacturers can take steps to limit the escape of the gas into the environment.
Currently, no laws regulate the release of PFBTA and similar chemicals. Now that chemists have identified the threat, legislators may find justification to control PFBTA pollution.
One Response
This is the third time I have seen reference to this “discovery”. It is not a discovery. It is well known that fluorocarbon refrigerants have GWPs well in excess of the figure quoted for PFTBA.
Please help me understand. There is no discovery in this and it is misleading.
Please have a look at this summary of refrigerant GWPs. You guys should know better. http://www.epa.gov/ozone/geninfo/gwps.html
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