Satellite studies have shown that a gas known as HFC-125 is increasing in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Scientists point out that this industrial hydrofluorocarbon compound has the potential to deplete our planet’s ozone layer.
Dangerous gas HFC-125
The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment research team at the University of Waterloo, under contract to the Canadian Space Agency, is the first to measure from space the atmospheric concentration of HFC-125, which is a type of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) commonly found in fire extinguishers and commercial refrigeration systems.
The paper is published in the Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer. The research is based on data from the ACE-FTS satellite. This is a Canadian satellite that has been in orbit for more than two decades.
HFC-125 as well as other hydrofluorocarbon compounds are widely used in industrial units, first of all — refrigeration systems, air conditioners and means for fighting fires in buildings. The only problem is that these substances sooner or later leak into the environment and rise to the upper atmosphere, where they interact with ozone and destroy it. This weakens our planet’s defenses against cosmic radiation.
Why HFC-125 doesn’t disappear from the atmosphere
Of course, people have long been aware of the dangers of hydrofluorocarbon compounds. Their use in industry is restricted by the Montreal Protocol. Therefore, the amount of HFC-125 (this is actually the commercial designation for this substance, it is actually pentafluoroethane) must be reduced.
Actually measuring how the amount of HFC-125 in the atmosphere decreases has been done by the ACE-FTS satellite. However, its observations showed that at altitudes between 11 and 25 kilometers, the content of this gas has increased by a factor of 10 since 2004.
And this is really news, because scientists have only had data on how the amount of this gas varies in the lower atmosphere. Now they can more accurately visualize the state of the planet’s climate. In the future, they will be able to figure out why the dangerous gas continues to enter the atmosphere and what can be done about it.
Provided by phys.org
