GREENHOUSE GASES AND GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL VALUES

The Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks presents estimates by the United States government of U.S. anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and removals for the years 1990 through 2000. The estimates are presented on

both a full molecular mass basis and on a Global Warming Potential (GWP) weighted basis in order to show the relative contribution of each gas to global average radiative forcing elements of the Earth’s climate system. Natural processes such as solar-irradiance variations, variations in the Earth’s orbital parameters, and volcanic activity can produce variations in climate. The climate system can also be influenced by changes in the concentration of various gases in the atmosphere, which affect the

Earth’s absorption of radiation.