Global methane emissions from wetlands, rice paddies, and lakes

• Published in: Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union
• Main Authors: Zhuang, Qianlai, Melack, John M., Zimov, Sergey, Walter, Katey M., Butenhoff, Christopher L., Khalil, M. Aslam K.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Purdue University 2009
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/easpubs/93; https://doi.org/10.1029/2009EO050001; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2009EO050001/abstract

The current concentration of atmospheric methane is 1774±1.8 parts per billion, and it accounts for 18% of total greenhouse gas radiative forcing [Forster et al., 2007]. Atmospheric methane is 22 times more effective, on a per-unit-mass basis, than carbon dioxide in absorbing long-wave radiation on a 100-year time horizon, and it plays an important role in atmospheric ozone chemistry (e.g., in the presence of nitrous oxides, tropospheric methane oxidation will lead to the formation of ozone). Wetlands are a large source of atmospheric methane, Arctic lakes have recently been recognized as a major source [e.g., Walter et al., 2006], and anthropogenic activities—such as rice agriculture—also make a considerable contribution.