The Bahamas is an internationally recognized state that comprises a series of islands that form the Lucayan Archipelago.
Global warming potential -LRB- GWP -RRB- is a relative measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere .. greenhouse gas. greenhouse gas. gas. gas. It compares the amount of heat trapped by a certain mass of the gas in question to the amount of heat trapped by a similar mass of carbon dioxide .. gas. gas. carbon dioxide. carbon dioxide. A GWP is calculated over a specific time interval , commonly 20 , 100 , or 500 years .. GWP is expressed as a factor of carbon dioxide -LRB- whose GWP is standardized to 1 -RRB- .. carbon dioxide. carbon dioxide. In the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , methane has a lifetime of 12.4 years and with climate-carbon feedbacks a global warming potential of 86 over 20 years and 34 over 100 years in response to emissions .. methane. methane. User related choices such as the time horizon can greatly affect the numerical values obtained for carbon dioxide equivalents .. carbon dioxide. carbon dioxide. For a change in time horizon from 20 to 100 years , the GWP for methane decreases by a factor of approximately 2.5 .. methane. methane. The substances subject to restrictions under the Kyoto protocol either are rapidly increasing their concentrations in Earth 's atmosphere or have a large GWP .. Kyoto protocol. Kyoto protocol. The GWP depends on the following factors  :. the absorption of infrared radiation by a given species. infrared radiation. infrared radiation. the spectral location of its absorbing wavelengths. the atmospheric lifetime of the species. atmospheric lifetime. atmospheric lifetime. Thus , a high GWP correlates with a large infrared absorption and a long atmospheric lifetime .. atmospheric lifetime. atmospheric lifetime. The dependence of GWP on the wavelength of absorption is more complicated .. Even if a gas absorbs radiation efficiently at a certain wavelength , this may not affect its GWP much if the atmosphere already absorbs most radiation at that wavelength .. gas. gas. A gas has the most effect if it absorbs in a `` window '' of wavelengths where the atmosphere is fairly transparent .. gas. gas. The dependence of GWP as a function of wavelength has been found empirically and published as a graph .. Because the GWP of a greenhouse gas depends directly on its infrared spectrum , the use of infrared spectroscopy to study greenhouse gases is centrally important in the effort to understand the impact of human activities on global climate change .. greenhouse gas. greenhouse gas. gas. gas. infrared spectroscopy. infrared spectroscopy. climate change. climate change