Regional trends and drivers of the global methane budget
(2022) In Global Change Biology 28(1). p.182-200- Abstract
The ongoing development of the Global Carbon Project (GCP) global methane (CH4) budget shows a continuation of increasing CH4 emissions and CH4 accumulation in the atmosphere during 2000–2017. Here, we decompose the global budget into 19 regions (18 land and 1 oceanic) and five key source sectors to spatially attribute the observed global trends. A comparison of top-down (TD) (atmospheric and transport model-based) and bottom-up (BU) (inventory- and process model-based) CH4 emission estimates demonstrates robust temporal trends with CH4 emissions increasing in 16 of the 19 regions. Five regions—China, Southeast Asia, USA, South Asia, and Brazil—account for >40% of the global... (More)
The ongoing development of the Global Carbon Project (GCP) global methane (CH4) budget shows a continuation of increasing CH4 emissions and CH4 accumulation in the atmosphere during 2000–2017. Here, we decompose the global budget into 19 regions (18 land and 1 oceanic) and five key source sectors to spatially attribute the observed global trends. A comparison of top-down (TD) (atmospheric and transport model-based) and bottom-up (BU) (inventory- and process model-based) CH4 emission estimates demonstrates robust temporal trends with CH4 emissions increasing in 16 of the 19 regions. Five regions—China, Southeast Asia, USA, South Asia, and Brazil—account for >40% of the global total emissions (their anthropogenic and natural sources together totaling >270 Tg CH4 yr−1 in 2008–2017). Two of these regions, China and South Asia, emit predominantly anthropogenic emissions (>75%) and together emit more than 25% of global anthropogenic emissions. China and the Middle East show the largest increases in total emission rates over the 2000 to 2017 period with regional emissions increasing by >20%. In contrast, Europe and Korea and Japan show a steady decline in CH4 emission rates, with total emissions decreasing by ~10% between 2000 and 2017. Coal mining, waste (predominantly solid waste disposal) and livestock (especially enteric fermentation) are dominant drivers of observed emissions increases while declines appear driven by a combination of waste and fossil emission reductions. As such, together these sectors present the greatest risks of further increasing the atmospheric CH4 burden and the greatest opportunities for greenhouse gas abatement.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- anthropogenic emissions, bottom-up, methane emissions, natural emissions, regional, source sectors, top-down
- in
- Global Change Biology
- volume
- 28
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 182 - 200
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85117884048
- pmid:34553464
- ISSN
- 1354-1013
- DOI
- 10.1111/gcb.15901
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.
- id
- 9769565a-19f5-4952-9076-666071adff26
- date added to LUP
- 2021-11-16 16:22:14
- date last changed
- 2024-06-15 20:28:56
@article{9769565a-19f5-4952-9076-666071adff26,
abstract = {{<p>The ongoing development of the Global Carbon Project (GCP) global methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) budget shows a continuation of increasing CH<sub>4</sub> emissions and CH<sub>4</sub> accumulation in the atmosphere during 2000–2017. Here, we decompose the global budget into 19 regions (18 land and 1 oceanic) and five key source sectors to spatially attribute the observed global trends. A comparison of top-down (TD) (atmospheric and transport model-based) and bottom-up (BU) (inventory- and process model-based) CH<sub>4</sub> emission estimates demonstrates robust temporal trends with CH<sub>4</sub> emissions increasing in 16 of the 19 regions. Five regions—China, Southeast Asia, USA, South Asia, and Brazil—account for >40% of the global total emissions (their anthropogenic and natural sources together totaling >270 Tg CH<sub>4</sub> yr<sup>−1</sup> in 2008–2017). Two of these regions, China and South Asia, emit predominantly anthropogenic emissions (>75%) and together emit more than 25% of global anthropogenic emissions. China and the Middle East show the largest increases in total emission rates over the 2000 to 2017 period with regional emissions increasing by >20%. In contrast, Europe and Korea and Japan show a steady decline in CH<sub>4</sub> emission rates, with total emissions decreasing by ~10% between 2000 and 2017. Coal mining, waste (predominantly solid waste disposal) and livestock (especially enteric fermentation) are dominant drivers of observed emissions increases while declines appear driven by a combination of waste and fossil emission reductions. As such, together these sectors present the greatest risks of further increasing the atmospheric CH<sub>4</sub> burden and the greatest opportunities for greenhouse gas abatement.</p>}},
author = {{Stavert, Ann R. and Saunois, Marielle and Canadell, Josep G. and Poulter, Benjamin and Jackson, Robert B. and Regnier, Pierre and Lauerwald, Ronny and Raymond, Peter A. and Allen, George H. and Patra, Prabir K. and Bergamaschi, Peter and Bousquet, Phillipe and Chandra, Naveen and Ciais, Philippe and Gustafson, Adrian and Ishizawa, Misa and Ito, Akihiko and Kleinen, Thomas and Maksyutov, Shamil and McNorton, Joe and Melton, Joe R. and Müller, Jurek and Niwa, Yosuke and Peng, Shushi and Riley, William J. and Segers, Arjo and Tian, Hanqin and Tsuruta, Aki and Yin, Yi and Zhang, Zhen and Zheng, Bo and Zhuang, Qianlai}},
issn = {{1354-1013}},
keywords = {{anthropogenic emissions; bottom-up; methane emissions; natural emissions; regional; source sectors; top-down}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{182--200}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Global Change Biology}},
title = {{Regional trends and drivers of the global methane budget}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15901}},
doi = {{10.1111/gcb.15901}},
volume = {{28}},
year = {{2022}},
}