What do we know about the global methane budget? Results from four decades of atmospheric CH4 observations and the way forward
Atmospheric CH 4 is arguably the most interesting of the anthropogenically influenced, long-lived greenhouse gases. It has a diverse suite of sources, each presenting its own challenges in quantifying emissions, and while its main sink, atmospheric oxidation initiated by reaction with hydroxyl radic...
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| Published in: | Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences physical, and engineering sciences, 2021-09, Vol.379 (2210) |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Atmospheric CH
4
is arguably the most interesting of the anthropogenically influenced, long-lived greenhouse gases. It has a diverse suite of sources, each presenting its own challenges in quantifying emissions, and while its main sink, atmospheric oxidation initiated by reaction with hydroxyl radical (OH), is well-known, determining the magnitude and trend in this and other smaller sinks remains challenging. Here, we provide an overview of the state of knowledge of the dynamic atmospheric CH
4
budget of sources and sinks determined from measurements of CH
4
and
δ
13
C
CH4
in air samples collected predominantly at background air sampling sites. While nearly four decades of direct measurements provide a strong foundation of understanding, large uncertainties in some aspects of the global CH
4
budget still remain. More complete understanding of the global CH
4
budget requires significantly more observations, not just of CH
4
itself, but other parameters to better constrain key, but still uncertain, processes like wetlands and sinks.
This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 1)'. |
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| ISSN: | 1364-503X 1471-2962 |