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Nitrogen trifluoride in the global atmosphere
Author(s) -
Weiss Ray F.,
Mühle Jens,
Salameh Peter K.,
Harth Christina M.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2008gl035913
Subject(s) - tonne , environmental science , greenhouse gas , atmosphere (unit) , atmospheric sciences , northern hemisphere , southern hemisphere , troposphere , nitrogen , climatology , meteorology , chemistry , geography , geology , oceanography , organic chemistry
Background atmospheric abundances and trends of nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ), a potent anthropogenic greenhouse gas, have been measured for the first time. The mean global tropospheric concentration of NF 3 has risen quasi‐exponentially from about 0.02 ppt (parts‐per‐trillion, dry air mole fraction) at the beginning of our measured record in 1978, to a July 1, 2008 value of 0.454 ppt, with a rate of increase of 0.053 ppt yr −1 , or about 11% per year, and an interhemispheric gradient that is consistent with these emissions occurring overwhelmingly in the Northern Hemisphere, as expected. This rise rate corresponds to about 620 metric tons of current NF 3 emissions globally per year, or about 16% of the poorly‐constrained global NF 3 production estimate of 4,000 metric tons yr −1 . This is a significantly higher percentage than has been estimated by industry, and thus strengthens the case for inventorying NF 3 production and for regulating its emissions.