Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections
Methane ( CH 4 ) 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 significa...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8b290d8f99fb4351affd2e3f58365a16 2023-05-15T14:02:40+02:00 Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections F. Winterstein F. Tanalski P. Jöckel M. Dameris M. Ponater 2019-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 https://doaj.org/article/8b290d8f99fb4351affd2e3f58365a16 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/7151/2019/acp-19-7151-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/8b290d8f99fb4351affd2e3f58365a16 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 19, Pp 7151-7163 (2019) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 2022-12-31T02:00:57Z Methane ( CH 4 ) 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 CH 4 concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere for the climate. We analyse experiments with 2×CH 4 and 5×CH 4 present-day (2010) mixing ratio and its quasi-instantaneous chemical impact on the atmosphere. The massive increase in CH 4 strongly influences the tropospheric chemistry by reducing the OH abundance and thereby extending the CH 4 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 ( O 3 ) 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×CH 4 experiment to be 0.69 W m −2 , and for the 5×CH 4 experiment to be 1.79 W m −2 . A substantial part of the RH is contributed by chemically induced O 3 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 CH 4 concentrations and it is therefore an overdue analysis as it emphasizes the impact of possible strong future CH 4 emissions on atmospheric chemistry and its feedback on climate. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 19 10 7151 7163 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
topic |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 F. Winterstein F. Tanalski P. Jöckel M. Dameris M. Ponater Implication of strongly increased atmospheric methane concentrations for chemistry–climate connections |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
Methane ( CH 4 ) 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 CH 4 concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere for the climate. We analyse experiments with 2×CH 4 and 5×CH 4 present-day (2010) mixing ratio and its quasi-instantaneous chemical impact on the atmosphere. The massive increase in CH 4 strongly influences the tropospheric chemistry by reducing the OH abundance and thereby extending the CH 4 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 ( O 3 ) 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×CH 4 experiment to be 0.69 W m −2 , and for the 5×CH 4 experiment to be 1.79 W m −2 . A substantial part of the RH is contributed by chemically induced O 3 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 CH 4 concentrations and it is therefore an overdue analysis as it emphasizes the impact of possible strong future CH 4 emissions on atmospheric chemistry and its feedback on climate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
F. Winterstein F. Tanalski P. Jöckel M. Dameris M. Ponater |
author_facet |
F. Winterstein F. Tanalski P. Jöckel M. Dameris M. Ponater |
author_sort |
F. Winterstein |
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://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 https://doaj.org/article/8b290d8f99fb4351affd2e3f58365a16 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 19, Pp 7151-7163 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/7151/2019/acp-19-7151-2019.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/8b290d8f99fb4351affd2e3f58365a16 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7151-2019 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
7151 |
op_container_end_page |
7163 |
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1766273022961909760 |