Tropical methane emissions explain large fraction of recent changes in global atmospheric methane growth rate

Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer (), Sihong Zhu, Robert J. Parker and Yi Liu
Additional contact information
Liang Feng: University of Edinburgh
Paul I. Palmer: University of Edinburgh
Sihong Zhu: University of Edinburgh
Robert J. Parker: University of Leicester
Yi Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Large variations in the growth of atmospheric methane, a prominent greenhouse gas, are driven by a diverse range of anthropogenic and natural emissions and by loss from oxidation by the hydroxyl radical. We used a decade-long dataset (2010–2019) of satellite observations of methane to show that tropical terrestrial emissions explain more than 80% of the observed changes in the global atmospheric methane growth rate over this period. Using correlative meteorological analyses, we show strong seasonal correlations (r = 0.6–0.8) between large-scale changes in sea surface temperature over the tropical oceans and regional variations in methane emissions (via changes in rainfall and temperature) over tropical South America and tropical Africa. Existing predictive skill for sea surface temperature variations could therefore be used to help forecast variations in global atmospheric methane.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28989-z

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