Global atmospheric distribution and trend of methylchloroform /CH3CCl3/
Results of global measurements of the concentration of atmospheric methylchloroform, a man-made gas with potentially harmful environmental consequences, performed over a two-year period are presented. Samples were collected weekly at Pt. Barrow and Poker Flats, Alaska, Cape Meares, Oregon, Cape Kumakahi, Hawaii, Samoa, and Cape Grim, Tasmania, and yearly at the South Pole, and methylchloroform concentrations were determined by electron capture-gas chromatographic techniques. A latitudinal profile of CH3CCl3 concentrations derived from the data exhibits a bump at high northern latitudes, where most of the sources are located. Average concentrations calculated for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres showed a rise in global concentrations at a rate of 6.7 + or - 2.0%/year for the period from January 1979 to January 1981, with concentrations rising more slowly in 1980 than in 1979. These yearly increases are also smaller than earlier rates of increase, explainable by a reduction in the rate of emission increase, and are consistent with an atmospheric lifetime of between 6 and 10 years.