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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 7, NUMBER 5, MAY 1994

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS... METHANE CYCLE

Item #d94may50

"Anomalous Methane," J. Rudolph (Inst. Atmos. Chem., Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Ger.), Nature, 368(6466), 19-20, Mar. 3, 1994.

Possible explanations for the small increase in atmospheric methane in 1992 are less intensive biomass burning, cooling due to the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991, changes in average tropospheric OH concentration, and changes in factors that affect methane and CO2 in a similar way (CO2 increase was also small in 1992).

Item #d94may51

"The Relationship Between the Methane Seasonal Cycle and Regional Sources and Sinks at Tae-ahn Peninsula, Korea," E.J. Dlugokencky (CMDL, NOAA, 325 Broadway, Boulder CO 80303), J.M. Harris et al., Atmos. Environ., 27A(14), 2115-2120, Oct. 1993.

Observations combined with a 3D model suggest that methane emission rates from wetlands in the far east of the former USSR may be twice those from Alaskan wetlands.

Item #d94may52

"Primary Production Control of Methane Emission from Wetlands," G.J. Whiting (Dept. Biol., Newport Univ., Newport News VA 23606), J.P. Chanton, Nature, 364(6440), 794-795, Aug. 26, 1993.

Finds a positive correlation between CH4 emissions and net ecosystem production. Greater primary production and soil microbial activity due to elevated CO2 would lead to greater CH4 emissions, further enhancing the greenhouse effect.

Item #d94may53

Two items from Tellus, 45B(3), July 1993:

"The Atmospheric CH4 Increase Since the Last Glacial Maximum. 1. Source Estimates," J.A. Chappellaz (CNRS Lab. Glac., BP 96, 38402 St. Martin d'Hères Cedex, France), I.Y. Fung, A.M. Thompson, 228-241. Estimates indicate that change in the wetland source was a major factor in the atmospheric CH4 increase from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Pre-Industrial Holocene period.

"...2. Interactions with Oxidants," A.M. Thompson (NASA-Goddard, Greenbelt MD 20771), J.A. Chappellaz et al., 242-257. Studies of the effect of changing CH4 fluxes on global tropospheric oxidant levels show that OH has decreased since the Last Glacial Maximum. Models disagree on projections for future OH.

Item #d94may54

"CO2 and CH4 Dynamics of a Sphagnum-Dominated Peatland in West Virginia," J.B. Yavitt (Dept. Nat. Resour., Cornell Univ., Ithaca NY 14853), R.K. Wieder, G.E. Lang, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 7(2), 259-274, June 1993.

Field measurements suggest that a temperate climate imposed on northern peatlands could mobilize stored carbon and increase CO2 and CH4 emissions into the troposphere.

Item #d94may55

"Methane Emission from Arctic Tundra," T.R. Christensen (Scott Polar Res. Inst., Univ. Cambridge, Lensfield Rd., Cambridge CB2 1ER, UK), Biogeochem., 21(2), 117-139, May 1993.

Estimates of the global tundra CH4 source, based on measurements from a true Arctic tundra site, are within the range of 42 ± 26 Tg CH4/yr found in studies of similar sub-Arctic tundra sites.

Item #d94may56

"Methane Flux: Water Table Relations in Northern Wetlands," T.R. Moore (Dept. Geog., McGill Univ., Montreal PQ H3A 2K6, Can.), N.T. Roulet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 20(7), 587-590, Apr. 9, 1993. Peatland drainage has reduced global CH4 emissions by about 1 Tg/yr during the last 100 years.

Item #d94may57

"Changes in Tropospheric Methane Between 1841 and 1978 from a High Accumulation-Rate Antarctic Ice Core," D.M. Etheridge (CSIRO, Priv. Bag 1, Mordialloc, Victoria 3195, Australia), G.I. Pearman, P.J. Fraser, Tellus, 44B(4), 282-294, Sep. 1992.

Methane growth rates have generally increased about 1% per year since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, to 14 ppbv/yr by the 1970s.