Question

Which greenhouse gas has the highest global warming potential?
A) Carbon Dioxide
B) Methane
C) Nitrous Oxide
D) Sulphur Hexafluoride

Answer 1

Hint : Greenhouse gas is a gas that can trap heat energy coming from the sun in the atmosphere. Different gases have different capacity to trap the heat energy coming from the sun.

Complete step by step answer
As mentioned in the hint, greenhouse gases are gases that can trap the heat energy coming from the sun. The greenhouse effect is the way in which heat is trapped close to the surface of the Earth by greenhouse gases.
This effect can be thought of as the surface of the Earth covered by a blanket that traps the heat of the sun that is received by the Earth and heats up the environment.
Naturally, the Earth has a cycle of different greenhouse gases that help in maintaining the temperature on Earth through the warmth of the sun. However, due to the various human activities, extra greenhouse gases are released in the atmosphere that can be safely handled by the atmosphere which can cause a rise in the temperature of the Earth.
The greenhouse gas which has the highest global warming potential is sulphur hexafluoride as it can absorb the amount of heat energy coming from the sun which corresponds to option (D).

Note
The reason why sulphur hexafluoride has the highest global warming potential is not only due to its capacity to absorb more heat from the solar radiation but it has also one of the highest lifetimes among the greenhouse gases which means it can stay in the atmosphere for a very long amount of time.