The major contributor to greenhouse effect is carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.?

Question

I know that carbon dioxide is from the burning of fossil fuels , but what are the other two gases, methane and nitrous oxide.

I heard that methane are derived from sources such as rice paddies, fossil production, etc..

Answer 1

Dead trees put one of those gases that cause global warming

Answer 2

The main greenhouse gases are CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and chloroflourcarbons (CFC's.)

Carbon dioxide is indeed primarily from the burning of fossil fuels.

Methane is from decaying things - garbage, plant life (like in swamps), digestion (like in flatulence).  It has approximately 21 times the greenhouse effect of CO2.

Nitrous oxide seems to come primarily from our use of nitrogen based fertilizers, as well as decaying stuff.  

CFC's (which used to be used as aerosol propellants) are now mostly used as refrigerants, although those are being phased out, too.

For more info, do a web search on "green house gases co2 methane" and see what comes up.  That's what I did.

Good question.

Answer 3

those are the major contributors to global warming. if you want the greenhouse effect you need to add water.

carbon dioxide comes from burning fuels or anything that rots with oxygen (aerobically).

methane comes from anything that rots without oxygen (anaerobically) . eg dead plants in swamps or as you said rice paddies. it is also produced in large amounts by livestock, eg cows.

nitrous oxide comes from a few things. one being cars. the high temps in the engine causes a few oxygen and nitrogen molecules to break up and combine to form nitrous oxide. it is also made when to much fertilizer is used on farmland. some of it is converted into nitrous oxide by bacteria.

Answer 4

None of those gases are the primary greenhouse gas. Water vapor holds that title. It accounts for about 75 to 95% of all the greenhouse effect. CO2 and the other gases play a very small role, and our contribution to these other gases (we do not directly contribute to water vapor) is minute compared to the whole.

Answer 5

Actually, the largest contributor to the greenhouse effect isn't CO2, but water vapor, which accounts for 50-90% of the total radiative forcing, depending on which scientist you ask.

Among other GHGs, CO2 is the most prevalent.  Natural sources account for some 97% of all CO2 by weight.   Anthropogenic (man-made) sources are primarily from fossil fuels.

Nitrous Oxide is primarily natural in origin also (15-20TG vs. some 2 TG generated by humans).  Natural sources are mostly from anaerobic bacteria.  Meat farming (cattle, pig, and chicken) generate most of the human-portion of that.

Like N20, methane is primarily natural.  Man-made sources are primarily from agricultural activities.

Answer 6

Most of the carbon dioxide put in the atmosphere is from so-called natural sources. A very small percentage is by human activities. I guess you have to ask yourself if driving a vehicle is natural.