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Why do nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases affect Earth’s climate?

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Grinnell Glacier shrinkage — 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.

Nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases affect Earth’s climate because they function as greenhouse gases. These gases possess the chemical property of absorbing infrared radiation—which is heat energy emitted from the Earth’s surface—and reradiating it back toward the ground. This process traps heat within the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect and driving global warming.123

The influence of these gases is measured by radiative forcing, which quantifies their impact on the radiant energy reaching the surface. While nitrous oxide has small background concentrations from natural biological reactions in soil and water, its atmospheric concentration is increased by industrial activity. Fluorinated gases, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are almost entirely anthropogenic and are particularly potent; for example, some HFCs have a global warming potential thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. Because they exert positive radiative forcing, these emissions are significant factors in climate change.1423