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Methane and global environmental change

Methane and global environmental change
Methane and global environmental change

Global atmospheric methane concentrations have continued to rise in recent years, having already more than doubled since the Industrial Revolution. Further environmental change, especially climate change, in the twenty-first century has the potential to radically alter global methane fluxes. Importantly, changes in temperature, precipitation, and net primary production may induce positive climate feedback effects in dominant natural methane sources such as wetlands, soils, and aquatic ecosystems. Anthropogenic methane sources may also be impacted, with a risk of enhanced emissions from the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors. Here, we review the global sources of methane, the trends in fluxes by source and sector, and their possible evolution in response to future environmental change. We discuss ongoing uncertainties in flux estimation and projection, and highlight the great potential for multisector methane mitigation as part of wider global climate change policy.

adaptation, feedbacks, mitigation, Paris Climate Agreement, sinks, sources
1543-5938
165-192
Reay, Dave S.
6e2f2555-debe-470d-906e-a9348e31b970
Smith, Pete
a8a5c7c1-faf6-4b75-b125-ec8c73d104a2
Christensen, Torben R.
ed2764c4-fba8-4450-bfc3-3b09184a4c71
James, Rachael H.
79aa1d5c-675d-4ba3-85be-fb20798c02f4
Clark, Harry
360e8be2-88b3-4f90-a844-3bd8a6ad2189
Reay, Dave S.
6e2f2555-debe-470d-906e-a9348e31b970
Smith, Pete
a8a5c7c1-faf6-4b75-b125-ec8c73d104a2
Christensen, Torben R.
ed2764c4-fba8-4450-bfc3-3b09184a4c71
James, Rachael H.
79aa1d5c-675d-4ba3-85be-fb20798c02f4
Clark, Harry
360e8be2-88b3-4f90-a844-3bd8a6ad2189

Reay, Dave S., Smith, Pete, Christensen, Torben R., James, Rachael H. and Clark, Harry (2018) Methane and global environmental change. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 43, 165-192. (doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-102017-030154).

Record type: Review

Abstract

Global atmospheric methane concentrations have continued to rise in recent years, having already more than doubled since the Industrial Revolution. Further environmental change, especially climate change, in the twenty-first century has the potential to radically alter global methane fluxes. Importantly, changes in temperature, precipitation, and net primary production may induce positive climate feedback effects in dominant natural methane sources such as wetlands, soils, and aquatic ecosystems. Anthropogenic methane sources may also be impacted, with a risk of enhanced emissions from the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors. Here, we review the global sources of methane, the trends in fluxes by source and sector, and their possible evolution in response to future environmental change. We discuss ongoing uncertainties in flux estimation and projection, and highlight the great potential for multisector methane mitigation as part of wider global climate change policy.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 8 June 2018
Published date: 17 October 2018
Keywords: adaptation, feedbacks, mitigation, Paris Climate Agreement, sinks, sources

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 425938
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/425938
ISSN: 1543-5938
PURE UUID: a5c12d99-6c84-491a-be3f-fb6e3d0e55eb
ORCID for Rachael H. James: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7402-2315

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 07 Nov 2018 17:30
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:46

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Contributors

Author: Dave S. Reay
Author: Pete Smith
Author: Torben R. Christensen
Author: Harry Clark

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