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Global Effects of Environmental Pollution pp 34–49Cite as

The Global Balance of Carbon Monoxide

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Abstract

Carbon monoxide, the most abundant air pollutant found in the atmosphere, generally exceeds that of all other pollutants combined (excluding CO2). Carbon monoxide is principally a man-made pollutant. Of the estimated 102 million tons of CO emitted in the U.S.A. during 1968 more than 90 × 106 tons were emitted from major technological sources. The motor vehicle contributed approximately 63% of the man-made CO emissions or about 58% of CO from all sources in the U.S.A. and also represents the largest single source of CO globally.

Other sources of CO include emissions from coal and fuel oil burning, industrial processes, and solid waste combustion. Some CO is also formed naturally by certain types of vegetation and marine organisms (siphonophores).

Carbon monoxide is relatively chemically inert in the troposphere; the chemical oxidation of CO in the lower atmosphere by molecular oxygen is very slow. The exact duration of CO in the lower atmosphere is not known with certainty; however, the mean residence time has been variously estimated to be between 0.1 and about 5.0 years. In the absence of scavenging processes, the estimated world-wide CO emission would be sufficient to raise the atmospheric level by 0.04 ppm per year, yet the background levels of CO in clean air do not appear to be increasing. Several potential sinks or scavenging processes are discussed. Knowledge of the precise mechanism or mechanisms of CO removal from the lower atmosphere is unsatisfactory at the present time.

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  1. Louis S. Jaffe
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., USA

    S. Fred Singer (Deputy Assistant Secretary) (Deputy Assistant Secretary)

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© 1970 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland

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Jaffe, L.S. (1970). The Global Balance of Carbon Monoxide. In: Singer, S.F. (eds) Global Effects of Environmental Pollution. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-3290-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-3290-2_6

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