MOUNT Zeppelin on the Arctic island of Ny-Alesund, part of Norway, is a watchtower of climate change. Instruments on its summit consistently detect the world鈥檚 highest concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Now it is recording an alarming surge in a far more powerful greenhouse gas, called HFC134a. Just one molecule has a warming effect more than a thousand times that of a molecule of CO2.
Since the ban on the chemically related CFCs, HFC134a has been manufactured in ever growing quantities for use in air conditioning systems in cars and buildings. The Norwegian Institute for Air Research says concentrations of the gas above Mount Zeppelin doubled between 2001 and 2004.
鈥淭his gas has a warming effect on the planet more than a thousand times that of CO2鈥�
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Manufacturers of air conditioners say their systems are designed to prevent leaks. 鈥淭he rapid increase shows that whatever the industry claims, the gases are not being contained,鈥� says Chris Rose of the Multisectoral Initiative on Potent Industrial Greenhouse Gases, based in London.
