Although carbon dioxide is the central problem concerning greenhouse gases, it is necessary to highlight that isn't the only gas that has heat-trapping potential in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, according to the Energy Information Administration, accounted for more than 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 2001.
Attacks on greenhouse gases usually focus on carbon dioxide and whether its prevalence in the atmosphere is human-made or natural, which takes the spotlight away from other greenhouses gases like methane, nitrous oxide and sulfur hexafluoride. All of them have more potential to trap heat per molecule than carbon dioxide, and there is more evidence that they are human-made.
Of course, a per-molecule basis can seem questionable if there are more molecules of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than these other gases. Ignoring these potentially more potent greenhouse gases because they are not more prevalent right now, however, will be problematic if they are allowed to increase in prominence later.
One molecule of methane, for instance, is 21 times more effective at trapping heat than one molecule of carbon dioxide, according to Slate. Although methane accounts for just 8 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, it has much more power to trap heat in the atmosphere.
And unlike the controversy about whether carbon naturally increases in the atmosphere, methane has many human-made sources. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, landfills are responsible of 34 percent of the methane in the atmosphere. About 26 percent of methane comes from natural sources, leaving livestock, wastewater treatment, coal mining, natural gas systems and other human-made entities to blame for the rest.
Nitrous oxide is 310 times more effective per molecule than carbon dioxide at trapping heat, according to the EPA. Although the majority - 60 percent - of nitrous oxide emissions comes from natural sources, there are plenty of human-made sources via fossil-fuel combustion, agricultural soil management and nitric acid production for fertilizer and explosives.
The most potent greenhouse gas is sulfur hexafluoride, and it has 22,200 times more heat-trapping potential than carbon dioxide, according to Science Daily. Sulfur hexafluoride is a human-made gas used by the electric industry in the production of magnesium and aluminum, according to GreenFacts. In 2000, this gas was part of a group of high global warming potential (GWP) gases which accounted for about 1 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
Some politicians have felt it necessary to respond to renewable energy proposals and green job proposals by condemning even the consideration that people should have to regulate the chemicals they release into the air. They also argue against carbon dioxide regulation while other greenhouse gases remain largely in the shadows.
The EPA deserves a pat on the back for dealing with not only carbon dioxide - as is often mentioned in headlines - but also other greenhouse gases with more potential to trap heat in the atmosphere.
The tendency to try to solve environmental problems after they have already done their damage needs to be changed. It is much more difficult to reverse the effects of environmental pollution - as is the case with carbon dioxide - than it is to prevent them in the first place. A preventative course of action ought to be implanted against these other greenhouse gases, especially because they have the potential to be more harmful than carbon dioxide.
Cathy Wilson is a senior studying journalism and a copy editor for The Post.Send her an e-mail at cw224805@ohiou.edu.
4 Opinion
Cathy Wilson
