which compares the effectiveness of methane and nitrous oxide as a greenhouse gas with that of carbon dioxide?
a. Neither methane nor nitrous oxide is a more effective greenhouse gas then carbon dioxide
b. Only nitrous oxide is a more effective greenhouse gas then carbon dioxide.
c. Only methane is a more effective greenhouse gas then carbon dioxide.
d. Both messin and nitrous oxide or more effective greenhouse gases, then carbon dioxide.
d. Both methane and nitrous oxide are more effective greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide.
c. Only methane is a more effective greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
To determine the effectiveness of methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide as greenhouse gases, we need to compare their global warming potentials (GWP). GWP measures the heat-trapping ability of a greenhouse gas relative to carbon dioxide over a specific time frame, usually 100 years.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides GWP values for different greenhouse gases. According to the IPCC's fifth assessment report, the GWP of methane over a 100-year period is about 28-36 times stronger than carbon dioxide, while nitrous oxide has a GWP of about 265-298 times stronger than carbon dioxide.
Based on this information, we can conclude that:
c. Only methane is a more effective greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Although nitrous oxide has a higher GWP than methane, the question asks for a comparison with carbon dioxide specifically. Therefore, only methane is considered more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.