Reconciling the changes in atmospheric methane sources and sinks between the Last Glacial Maximum and the pre-industrial era

Details Reconciling the changes in atmospheric methane sources and sinks between the Last Glacial Maximum and the pre-industrial era Reconciling the changes in atmospheric methane sources and sinks between the Last Glacial Maximum and the pre-industrial era

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011georl..3823804l&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 38, Issue 23, CiteID L23804

Physics

Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Biosphere/Atmosphere Interactions (0426, 1610), Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Constituent Sources And Sinks, Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Evolution Of The Atmosphere (1610, 8125), Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Troposphere: Composition And Chemistry, Cryosphere: Ice Cores (4932)

Scientific paper

We know from the ice record that the concentration of atmospheric methane, [CH4], at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) was roughly half that in the pre-industrial era (PI), but how much of the difference was source-driven, and how much was sink-driven, remains uncertain. Recent developments include: a higher estimate of the LGM-PI change in methane emissions from wetlands―the dominant, natural methane source; and the possible recycling of OH consumed in isoprene oxidation―the principal methane sink. Here, in view of these developments, we use an atmospheric chemistry-transport model to re-examine the main factors affecting OH during this period: changes in air temperature and emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds from vegetation. We find that their net effect was negligible (with and without an OH recycling mechanism), implying the change in [CH4] was almost entirely source driven―a conclusion that, though subject to significant uncertainties, can be reconciled with recent methane source estimates.

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