Can chlorine be potentially a greenhouse gas?

Short answer , no. :) Now here's why....An infrared spectrum is used to check if specific molecules are good absorbers of infrared energy, which qualifies them as "greenhouse gases". http://irina.eas.gatech.edu/EAS8... read more

Therefore, in itself it can't be a greenhouse gas. However, chlorine-containing organic compounds (such as refrigerants) are very good IR absorbers, and they are greenhouse gases. read more

The chlorine gases in the lower stratosphere interact with tiny cloud particles that form at extremely cold temperatures — below -80 degrees Celsius (-112 degrees Fahrenheit). While greenhouse gases absorb heat at a relatively low altitudes and warm the surface, they actually cool the stratosphere. read more

Chlorine is the most widely used water disinfectant/sanitizer in the US and most of the world. Chlorine is a powerful oxidizer. When added to water it steals electrons from other substances altering the chemical makeup of unwanted organisms and combines with dangerous inorganic compounds to render them harmless. read more

TL;DR: The most infrared"active" greenhouse gas, therefore (measured by heat input to the earth), isn't a gas at all- it's water, as ice and clouds. But carbon dioxide and other pollutants act like a cozy blanket below those clouds, and just like a heavy blanket or a thin top sheet, it's how thickly they are layered that influences their effectiveness at warming the planet. read more