Large-Scale Controls of Methanogenesis Inferred from Methane and Gravity Spaceborne Data
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Material Information

Title:
Large-Scale Controls of Methanogenesis Inferred from Methane and Gravity Spaceborne Data
Series Title:
Science Magazine Volume 327
Creator:
A. Anthony Bloom
Paul I.Palmer
Annemarie Fraser
David S. Reay
Christian Frankenberg
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh -- School of Geosciences
University of Edinburgh -- School of Geosciences
University of Edinburgh -- School of Geosciences
University of Edinburgh -- School of Geosciences
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Publisher:
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Publication Date:
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
climate change
methane
gravity
carbon dioxide

Notes

Abstract:
Wetlands are the largest individual source of methane (CH4), but the magnitude and distribution of this source are poorly understood on continental scales. We isolated the wetland and rice paddy contributions to spaceborne CH4 measurements over 2003–2005 using satellite observations of gravity anomalies, a proxy for water-table depth G, and surface temperature analyses TS. We find that tropical and higher-latitude CH4 variations are largely described by G and TS variations, respectively. Our work suggests that tropical wetlands contribute 52 to 58% of global emissions, with the remainder coming from the extra-tropics, 2% of which is from Arctic latitudes. We estimate a 7% rise in wetland CH4 emissions over 2003–2007, due to warming of mid-latitude and Arctic wetland regions, which we find is consistent with recent changes in atmospheric CH4.

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Source Institution:
Florida International University
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