Ever-rising Greenhouse Gasses

All greenhouse gas levels just keep rising.

I was checking the Mona Loa atmospheric observation site for an update on the trend in the “Keeling Curve,” that ever-rising graph of the atmospheric CO2 level, and yes, it is still rising! And worse, the top of the curve is concave, meaning it is not flattening out, levelling off - it is rising at an increasing rate! So all the financial trickery of carbon credits and offsets and biofuels have all been bullshit. So has the so-called Paris COP agreement - can you see the dip in the curve from that? The least “we” could do is get the curve to level out and run at a flat level, instead of annually increasing the increase!

Here’s the CO2 trend charts:

Also, have a look at the 2-minute video that shows the spread of CO2 over a two-year period, at this link, and click on the video. Also, there are very interesting short videos, starting with this one that shows an animation of the annual increases - watch the level of the line going up month by month.

But after viewing that video, follow along to the short videos from NASA that go through CO2 distributions, arctic sea ice loss, etc.

But that’s not all, there are charts for other greenhouse gases as well, such as methane (CH4), so-called “natural gas.”

And there’s nitrous oxide (NO2). Nitrous oxide molecules stay in the atmosphere for an average of 121 years before being removed by a natural sink or destroyed through chemical reactions. The impact of 1 pound of N2O on warming the atmosphere is 265 times that of 1 pound of carbon dioxide. Globally, 40% of total N2O emissions come from human activities, it can be converted into nitrogen oxides that deplete the stratospheric ozone layer and expose the Earth to more solar radiation, thereby damaging crops and human health. See also US EPA Greenhouse gas emissions site.

And there is a fourth one, SF6 - Sulphur hexaflouride. Here’s its chart of atmospheric increase:

Another concave curve, meaning the increase is increasing, an exponential curve.

This disgusting compound is a perfect example of runaway “Progress.” Someone discovers how to make this material, then if the price is right, it diffuses (yes a pun) throughout industry as clever people find more and more “uses” for it! Here’s some information from Wikipedia:

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, SF6 is the most potent greenhouse gas. Its global warming potential of 23,900 times that of CO2 when compared over a 100-year period. Sulfur hexafluoride is inert in the troposphere and stratosphere and is extremely long-lived, with an estimated atmospheric lifetime of 800–3,200 years.

Measurements of SF6 show that its global average mixing ratio has increased from a steady base of about 54 parts per quadrillion prior to industrialization, to over 11.5 parts per trillion (ppt) as of October 2023, and is increasing by about 0.4 ppt (3.5 percent) per year. Average global SF6 concentrations increased by about seven percent per year during the 1980s and 1990s, mostly as the result of its use in magnesium production, and by electrical utilities and electronics manufacturers. Given the small amounts of SF6 released compared to carbon dioxide, its overall individual contribution to global warming is estimated to be less than 0.2 percent, however the collective contribution of it and similar man-made halogenated gases has reached about 10 percent as of 2020. Alternatives are being tested.

In Europe, SF6 falls under the F-Gas directive which ban or control its use for several applications. Since 1 January 2006, SF6 is banned as a tracer gas and in all applications except high-voltage switchgear. It was reported in 2013 that a three-year effort by the United States Department of Energy to identify and fix leaks at its laboratories in the United States such as the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, where the gas is used as a high voltage insulator, had been productive, cutting annual leaks by 1,030 kilograms (2,280 pounds). This was done by comparing purchases with inventory, assuming the difference was leaked, then locating and fixing the leaks.

The magnesium industry uses SF6 as an inert "cover gas" to prevent oxidation during casting. Once the largest user, consumption has declined greatly with capture and recycling.

Insulated glazing windows have used it as a filler to improve their thermal and acoustic insulation performance.

SF6 plasma is used in the semiconductor industry as an etchant in processes such as deep reactive-ion etching. A small fraction of the SF6 breaks down in the plasma into sulfur and fluorine, with the fluorine ions performing a chemical reaction with silicon.

Tires filled with it take longer to deflate from diffusion through rubber due to the larger molecule size.

Nike likewise used it to obtain a patent and to fill the cushion bags in all of their "Air"-branded shoes from 1992 to 2006. 277 tons was used during the peak in 1997.

The United States Navy's Mark 50 torpedo closed Rankine-cycle propulsion system is powered by sulfur hexafluoride in an exothermic reaction with solid lithium.

Waveguides in high-power microwave systems are pressurized with it. The gas electrically insulates the waveguide, preventing internal arcing.

Electrostatic loudspeakers have used it because of its high dielectric strength and high molecular weight. The chemical weapon disulfur decafluoride is produced with it as a feedstock.

For entertainment purposes, when breathed, SF6 causes the voice to become significantly deeper, due to its density being so much higher than air. This phenomenon is related to the more well-known effect of breathing low-density helium, which causes someone's voice to become much higher. Both of these effects should only be attempted with caution as these gases displace oxygen that the lungs are attempting to extract from the air. Sulfur hexafluoride is also mildly anesthetic.

For science demonstrations / magic as "invisible water" since a light foil boat can be floated in a tank, as will an air-filled balloon.

It is used for benchmark and calibration measurements in Associative and Dissociative Electron Attachment (DEA) experiments.

SF6 can be prepared from the elements through exposure of S8 to F2. This was also the method used by the discoverers Henri Moissan and Paul Lebeau in 1901.

Applications:

By 2000, the electrical power industry is estimated to use about 80% of the sulfur hexafluoride produced, mostly as a gaseous dielectric medium. Other main uses as of 2015 included a silicon etchant for semiconductor manufacturing, and an inert gas for the casting of magnesium.

SF6 is used in the electrical industry as a gaseous dielectric medium for high-voltage sulfur hexafluoride circuit breakers, switchgear, and other electrical equipment, often replacing oil-filled circuit breakers (OCBs) that can contain harmful polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). SF6 gas under pressure is used as an insulator in gas insulated switchgear (GIS) because it has a much higher dielectric strength than air or dry nitrogen.

Sulfur hexafluoride is also routinely used as a tracer gas in laboratory fume hood containment testing. The gas is used in the final stage of ASHRAE 110 fume hood qualification. A plume of gas is generated inside of the fume hood and a battery of tests are performed while a gas analyzer arranged outside of the hood samples for SF6 to verify the containment properties of the fume hood.

It has been used successfully as a tracer in oceanography to study diapycnal mixing and air-sea gas exchange.

But that’s not all! Other halogenated gasses are still being used and accumulating in the atmosphere, all are potent greenhouse gasses and/or ozone disrupters. You can see that CFC-12 (Refrigerant-12) that was supposedly phased out by the Montreal Protocol, has hardly reduce yet. In the chart on the right, you can see SF6 as the brown line in the middle. Another worrisome trend is the nitrogen triflouride coming up from the bottom. Nobody needs this kind of “Progress!”

The atmosphere is our only air supply; it should NOT be a trash can!

“Progress” must be contained; space launches curtailed and air travel ended.

If grounding all flights sounds too negative, then turn it around - call it “The Clear Skies Initiative” where you no longer have metal crap being propelled through the air above you.

All nations have accepted that war is a viable human endeavor, abandoning the half-hearted attempts at initiating a peaceful world order following WWII, with the founding of the United Nations organization. The creation of NATO was the first major step in side-lining the UN, by dismissing consensus agreement, institutionalizing the dominance of the United States and commencing again the same type of interlocking defense treaties that were the underlying error leading to WWI. Defense spending in all nations and prominent display of weaponry is on the increase, and naturally this trumps all other social goals including hunger and climate change. The implementation of bombing is the antithesis of environmental protection. Every day the world moves closer to destruction and farther from a working international governance, a path to Peace and proving that there is indeed a civilization on this planet, rather than promoting its exploitation and destruction.