A 21st-century shift from fossil-fuel to biogenic methane emissions indicated by 13 CH 4
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research · Heidelberg University · +3 more institutions
Abstract
Between 1999 and 2006, a plateau interrupted the otherwise continuous increase of atmospheric methane concentration [CH4] since preindustrial times. Causes could be sink variability or a temporary reduction in industrial or climate-sensitive sources. We reconstructed the global history of [CH4] and its stable carbon isotopes from ice cores, archived air, and a global network of monitoring stations. A box-model analysis suggests that diminishing thermogenic emissions, probably from the fossil-fuel industry, and/or variations in the hydroxyl CH4 sink caused the [CH4] plateau. Thermogenic emissions did not resume to cause the renewed [CH4] rise after 2006, which contradicts emission inventories. Post-2006 source…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 43.70
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 40
Authors
14- HSHinrich SchaeferCorresponding
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
- SES. E. Mikaloff Fletcher
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
- CVCordelia Veidt
Heidelberg University
- KRKeith R. Lassey
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
- GBGordon Brailsford
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
Topics & keywords
- Methane
- Greenhouse gas
- Atmospheric methane
- Fossil fuel
- Sink (geography)
- Environmental science
- Methane emissions
- Environmental chemistry
- Zero hunger