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UnamedStreamNumber9 t1_j7yxz5x wrote

Reply to comment by stdio-lib in Is the relative contribution to global warming of greenhouse gasses settled science? by BrndNwAccnt

Methane breaks down to CO2. The discrepancy is mostly like due to one method looking at the “instantaneous” warming effect vs the warming for total time in atmosphere. Methane warm at the greater rate for 3-5 years before breaking down to CO2. CO2 in the atmosphere has a residence time on the order of a century. So, methane has the much higher warming potential (84x) by integrating its 3-5 years at 25x CO2 and then another century at same as CO2

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Any-Broccoli-3911 t1_j7z0pwq wrote

If you average 5 years of 25x and 100 years of 1x, compared to 100 years of 1x (CO2), that's 2.25x in average.

The long term average will always be smaller than the short term one.

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