Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections
Methane (CH4) is the second-most important directly emitted greenhouse gas, the atmospheric concentration of which is influenced by human activities. In this study, numerical simulations with the chemistry–climate model (CCM) EMAC are performed, aiming to assess possible consequences of significantl...
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ftdlr:oai:elib.dlr.de:128087 2023-12-03T10:11:43+01:00 Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections Winterstein, Franziska Tanalski, Fabian Jöckel, Patrick Dameris, Martin Ponater, Michael 2019 application/pdf https://elib.dlr.de/128087/ https://elib.dlr.de/128087/1/Winterstein_etal_2019.pdf https://elib.dlr.de/128087/2/Winterstein_etal_2019-supplement.pdf http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/7151/2019/ en eng Copernicus Publications https://elib.dlr.de/128087/1/Winterstein_etal_2019.pdf https://elib.dlr.de/128087/2/Winterstein_etal_2019-supplement.pdf Winterstein, Franziska und Tanalski, Fabian und Jöckel, Patrick und Dameris, Martin und Ponater, Michael (2019) Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19, Seiten 7151-7163. Copernicus Publications. doi:10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 <https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019>. ISSN 1680-7316. Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre Erdsystem-Modellierung Zeitschriftenbeitrag PeerReviewed 2019 ftdlr https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 2023-11-06T00:24:12Z Methane (CH4) is the second-most important directly emitted greenhouse gas, the atmospheric concentration of which is influenced by human activities. In this study, numerical simulations with the chemistry–climate model (CCM) EMAC are performed, aiming to assess possible consequences of significantly enhanced CH4 concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere for the climate. We analyse experiments with 2×CH4 and 5×CH4 present-day (2010) mixing ratio and its quasi-instantaneous chemical impact on the atmosphere. The massive increase in CH4 strongly influences the tropospheric chemistry by reducing the OH abundance and thereby extending the CH4 lifetime as well as the residence time of other chemical substances. The region above the tropopause is impacted by a substantial rise in stratospheric water vapour (SWV). The stratospheric ozone (O3) column increases overall, but SWV-induced stratospheric cooling also leads to a enhanced ozone depletion in the Antarctic lower stratosphere. Regional patterns of ozone change are affected by modification of stratospheric dynamics, i.e. increased tropical upwelling and stronger meridional transport towards the polar regions. We calculate the net radiative impact (RI) of the 2×CH4 experiment to be 0.69 W m−2, and for the 5×CH4 experiment to be 1.79 W m−2. A substantial part of the RH is contributed by chemically induced O3 and SWV changes, in line with previous radiative forcing estimates. To our knowledge this is the first numerical study using a CCM with respect to 2- and 5-fold CH4 concentrations and it is therefore an overdue analysis as it emphasizes the impact of possible strong future CH4 emissions on atmospheric chemistry and its feedback on climate. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic German Aerospace Center: elib - DLR electronic library Antarctic The Antarctic Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 19 10 7151 7163 |
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German Aerospace Center: elib - DLR electronic library |
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English |
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Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre Erdsystem-Modellierung |
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Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre Erdsystem-Modellierung Winterstein, Franziska Tanalski, Fabian Jöckel, Patrick Dameris, Martin Ponater, Michael Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections |
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Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre Erdsystem-Modellierung |
description |
Methane (CH4) is the second-most important directly emitted greenhouse gas, the atmospheric concentration of which is influenced by human activities. In this study, numerical simulations with the chemistry–climate model (CCM) EMAC are performed, aiming to assess possible consequences of significantly enhanced CH4 concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere for the climate. We analyse experiments with 2×CH4 and 5×CH4 present-day (2010) mixing ratio and its quasi-instantaneous chemical impact on the atmosphere. The massive increase in CH4 strongly influences the tropospheric chemistry by reducing the OH abundance and thereby extending the CH4 lifetime as well as the residence time of other chemical substances. The region above the tropopause is impacted by a substantial rise in stratospheric water vapour (SWV). The stratospheric ozone (O3) column increases overall, but SWV-induced stratospheric cooling also leads to a enhanced ozone depletion in the Antarctic lower stratosphere. Regional patterns of ozone change are affected by modification of stratospheric dynamics, i.e. increased tropical upwelling and stronger meridional transport towards the polar regions. We calculate the net radiative impact (RI) of the 2×CH4 experiment to be 0.69 W m−2, and for the 5×CH4 experiment to be 1.79 W m−2. A substantial part of the RH is contributed by chemically induced O3 and SWV changes, in line with previous radiative forcing estimates. To our knowledge this is the first numerical study using a CCM with respect to 2- and 5-fold CH4 concentrations and it is therefore an overdue analysis as it emphasizes the impact of possible strong future CH4 emissions on atmospheric chemistry and its feedback on climate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Winterstein, Franziska Tanalski, Fabian Jöckel, Patrick Dameris, Martin Ponater, Michael |
author_facet |
Winterstein, Franziska Tanalski, Fabian Jöckel, Patrick Dameris, Martin Ponater, Michael |
author_sort |
Winterstein, Franziska |
title |
Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections |
title_short |
Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections |
title_full |
Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections |
title_fullStr |
Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections |
title_full_unstemmed |
Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections |
title_sort |
implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://elib.dlr.de/128087/ https://elib.dlr.de/128087/1/Winterstein_etal_2019.pdf https://elib.dlr.de/128087/2/Winterstein_etal_2019-supplement.pdf http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/7151/2019/ |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
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Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
https://elib.dlr.de/128087/1/Winterstein_etal_2019.pdf https://elib.dlr.de/128087/2/Winterstein_etal_2019-supplement.pdf Winterstein, Franziska und Tanalski, Fabian und Jöckel, Patrick und Dameris, Martin und Ponater, Michael (2019) Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19, Seiten 7151-7163. Copernicus Publications. doi:10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 <https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019>. ISSN 1680-7316. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 |
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Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
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19 |
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10 |
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7151 |
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7163 |
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1784255525212389376 |