Investigation of the global methane budget over 1980–2017 using GFDL-AM4.1

Abstract

Abstract. Changes in atmospheric methane abundance have implications for both chemistry and climate as methane is both a strong greenhouse gas and an important precursor for tropospheric ozone. A better understanding of the drivers of trends and variability in methane abundance over the recent past is therefore critical for building confidence in projections of future methane levels. In this work, the representation of methane in the atmospheric chemistry model AM4.1 is improved by optimizing total methane emissions (to an annual mean of 580±34 Tg yr−1) to match surface observations over 1980–2017. The simulations with optimized global emissions are in general able to capture the observed trend, variability, seasonal cycle, and latitudinal gradient of methane. Simulations with different emission adjustments suggest that increases in methane emissions (mainly from agriculture, energy, and waste sectors) balanced by increases in methane sinks (mainly due to increases in OH levels) lead to methane stabilization (with an imbalance of 5 Tg yr−1) during 1999–2006 and that increases in methane emissions (mainly from agriculture, energy, and waste sectors) combined with little change in sinks (despite small decreases in OH levels) during 2007–2012 lead to renewed growth in methane (with an imbalance of 14 Tg yr−1 for 2007–2017). Compared to 1999–2006, both methane emissions and sinks are greater (by 31 and 22 Tg yr−1, respectively) during 2007–2017. Our tagged tracer analysis indicates that anthropogenic sources (such as agriculture, energy, and waste sectors) are more likely major contributors to the renewed growth in methane after 2006. A sharp increase in wetland emissions (a likely scenario) with a concomitant sharp decrease in anthropogenic emissions (a less likely scenario), would be required starting in 2006 to drive the methane growth by wetland tracer. Simulations with varying OH levels indicate that a 1 % change in OH levels could lead to an annual mean difference of ∼4 Tg yr−1 in the optimized emissions and a 0.08-year difference in the estimated tropospheric methane lifetime. Continued increases in methane emissions along with decreases in tropospheric OH concentrations during 2008–2015 prolong methane's lifetime and therefore amplify the response of methane concentrations to emission changes. Uncertainties still exist in the partitioning of emissions among individual sources and regions.