Greenhouse Gas

[Anchor Lead]

Levels of sulfur hexafluoride, one of the culprits of global warming, have been found to have more than doubled in Korean air over the past two decades. Let’s learn more.

[Pkg]

Sulfur hexafluoride, or SF6, is cited as a major culprit behind global warming. The greenhouse gas is 23,000 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a warming agent. A study has revealed that its concentration in the air has more than doubled over the past 20 years. The concentration of sulfur hexafluoride stood at 3.7 ppt in February 1996, when it was measured for the first time. This means that 3.7 particles of sulfur hexafluoride were found per trillion particles of air, but the figure has surged steadily over the years, rising to 9.8 ppt last month.

[Soundbite] Chung Yong-seung(Korea Center for Atmospheric Environment Research) : "The concentration of sulfur hexafluoride is the highest in Korea among neighboring countries, ahead of China and Mongolia. The concentration in Korea is much higher than the Hawaii Observatory permissible levels."

Sulfur hexafluoride is mostly used as an insulation gas in semiconductor manufacturing and electric equipment. Once it's emitted, it takes the gas thousands of years to dissipate. In addition to domestic emissions of sulfur hexafluoride, the greenhouse gas is also brought in in large amounts from China.

[Soundbite] Prof. Kim Hak-seong(Korea National University of Education) : "The use of sulfur hexafluoride has surged in China as a result of industrial development. This gas is released into the air in larger amounts, and is even brought in to Korea by the west wind."

Despite the seriousness of the problem, the Korean government has only just begun to take measures to curb sulfur hexafluoride by reusing the gas and attempting to find a replacement.