Abstract
AbstractThe atmospheric methane burden is increasing rapidly, contrary to pathways compatible with the goals of the 2015 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement. Urgent action is required to bring methane back to a pathway more in line with the Paris goals. Emission reduction from “tractable” (easier to mitigate) anthropogenic sources such as the fossil fuel industries and landfills is being much facilitated by technical advances in the past decade, which have radically improved our ability to locate, identify, quantify, and reduce emissions. Measures to reduce emissions from “intractable” (harder to mitigate) anthropogenic sources such as agriculture and biomass burning have received less attention and are also becoming more feasible, including removal from elevated‐methane ambient air near to sources. The wider effort to use microbiological and dietary intervention to reduce emissions from cattle (and humans) is not addressed in detail in this essentially geophysical review. Though they cannot replace the need to reach “net‐zero” emissions of CO2, significant reductions in the methane burden will ease the timescales needed to reach required CO2reduction targets for any particular future temperature limit. There is no single magic bullet, but implementation of a wide array of mitigation and emission reduction strategies could substantially cut the global methane burden, at a cost that is relatively low compared to the parallel and necessary measures to reduce CO2, and thereby reduce the atmospheric methane burden back toward pathways consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Highlights
Emission reduction from “tractable” anthropogenic sources such as the fossil fuel industries and landfills is being much facilitated by technical advances in the past decade, which have radically improved our ability to locate, identify, quantify, and reduce emissions
One illustrative pathway that would lead to compliance with the 2015 United Nations (UN) Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 2015) is Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 (RCP 2.6) (Collins et al, 2013; Rogelj et al, 2012) (Figure 1)
In Article 13.7, the Agreement places requirements on quantification of emissions: “Each Party shall regularly provide the following information: (a) A national inventory report of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases, prepared using good practice methodologies accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and agreed upon by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to this Agreement; and (b) Information necessary to track progress made in implementing and achieving its nationally determined contribution under Article 4.”
Summary
Methane is a remarkably attractive target for reducing atmospheric greenhouse warming. One illustrative pathway that would lead to compliance with the 2015 United Nations (UN) Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 2015) is Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 (RCP 2.6) (Collins et al, 2013; Rogelj et al, 2012) (Figure 1) This pathway envisaged an immediate and significant fall in methane, allowing time for progress on the more difficult task of reducing CO2. (a) A national inventory report of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases, prepared using good practice methodologies accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and agreed upon by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to this Agreement; and (b) Information necessary to track progress made in implementing and achieving its nationally determined contribution under Article 4.”. There is a requirement for signatory nations to act effectively and urgently to reduce methane emissions
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