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How long does methane remain in the atmosphere compared with carbon dioxide?
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Global warming
A series of photographs of the Grinnell Glacier taken from the summit of Mount Gould in Glacier National Park, Montana, in (from left) 1938, 1981, 1998, and 2006. In 1938 the Grinnell Glacier filled the entire area at the bottom of the image. By 2006 it had largely disappeared from this view.
Methane has a significantly shorter residence time in the atmosphere compared with carbon dioxide. While methane remains in the atmosphere for approximately 10 years, carbon dioxide persists for hundreds of years.1
Despite its shorter atmospheric lifetime, methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide because the radiative forcing produced per molecule is greater. Additionally, methane's atmospheric lifetime can be influenced by the concentration of hydroxyl radicals; as methane concentrations rise, these radicals are depleted, which can effectively prolong the time methane remains in the atmosphere.12