Atmospheric CH4, CO and OH from 1860 to 1985

Details Atmospheric CH4, CO and OH from 1860 to 1985 Atmospheric CH4, CO and OH from 1860 to 1985

May 1986

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1986natur.321..148t&link_type=abstract

Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 321, May 8, 1986, p. 148-150. NASA-supported research.

Other

10

Atmospheric Chemistry, Atmospheric Composition, Carbon Monoxide, Hydroxyl Radicals, Methane, Secular Variations, Oxidation, Troposphere

Scientific paper

Studies have shown that atmospheric methane, CO and the gaseous OH radical are interdependent: if CH4, CO or OH is perturbed, background concentrations of the other two constituents are affected. Perturbations to OH alter photooxidation rates of numerous natural and anthropogenic trace gases and affect lifetimes of those species that pass from the earth's surface to the free troposphere and stratosphere. It is now known that global atmospheric methane concentrations are increasing; less definite data suggest that carbon monoxide is also increasing. Even before the measurements reported in nine literature references, modeling studies of CH4-CO-OH coupling had led to predictions (Chameides, Liu and Ciceronne, 1977; Sze, 1977; and Hameed, Pinto and Stewart 1979) of future increases of CH4 and CO. A photochemical model is used to look backwards in time by simulating the trace-gas composition of the unpolluted troposphere at the start of the industrial era (taken as 1860) and at intervals up to 1985. It is found that the OH concentration in the background troposphere has decreased significantly and O3 has increased due to increases of CH4 and CO; calculated changes depend on temporal trends of NOx (NOx = NO + NO2), for which no historical data are available. The calculations allow recent trace-gas trends affecting background chemistry and climate to be viewed in a longer-term context.

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