Scientists Identify New Greenhouse Gas

International scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (United States) and other institutions report that a widely used pest control fumigant, sulfuryl fluoride, "has the potential to contribute significantly to future greenhouse warming". However, since it has not yet reached alarming levels, there is still time to consider strategies for intervention. Sulfuryl fluoride is reported to be a widely-used fumigant which replaced the phased-out methyl bromide. Ron Prinn, co-author and director of the Center for Global Change Science (at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), mentions that sulfuryl fluoride is "about 4,800 times more potent a heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide" and has a lifetime of about 36 years. While the fumigation industry is a big industry, and is necessary to "preserve buildings and food supply", identifying the greenhouse risks of the chemical would give the industry "a chance to find other substitutes at a time when that's still a relatively easy change to implement".

Related information on greenhouse gases and global warming potential http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/greenhouse/Chapter1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_potential