Open AccessEffects of extreme meteorological conditions in 2018 on European methane emissions estimated using atmospheric inversions
Author(s) -
Rona L. Thompson,
Christine Groot Zwaaftink,
Dominik Brunner,
Aki Tsuruta,
Tuula Aalto,
Maarit Raivonen,
Monica Crippa,
Efisio Solazzo,
Diego Guizzardi,
Pierre Regnier,
Ma Maisonnier
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
philosophical transactions - royal society. mathematical, physical and engineering sciences/philosophical transactions - royal society. mathematical, physical and engineering sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1471-2962
pISSN - 1364-503X
DOI - 10.1098/rsta.2020.0443
Subject(s) - anomaly (physics) , environmental science , climatology , atmospheric sciences , methane , climate change , water content , moisture , methane emissions , meteorology , geography , geology , chemistry , oceanography , physics , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , condensed matter physics
The effect of the 2018 extreme meteorological conditions in Europe on methane (CH4 ) emissions is examined using estimates from four atmospheric inversions calculated for the period 2005–2018. For most of Europe, we find no anomaly in 2018 compared to the 2005–2018 mean. However, we find a positive anomaly for the Netherlands in April, which coincided with positive temperature and soil moisture anomalies suggesting an increase in biogenic sources. We also find a negative anomaly for the Netherlands for September–October, which coincided with a negative anomaly in soil moisture, suggesting a decrease in soil sources. In addition, we find a positive anomaly for Serbia in spring, summer and autumn, which coincided with increases in temperature and soil moisture, again suggestive of changes in biogenic sources, and the annual emission for 2018 was 33 ± 38% higher than the 2005–2017 mean. These results indicate that CH4 emissions from areas where the natural source is thought to be relatively small can still vary due to meteorological conditions. At the European scale though, the degree of variability over 2005–2018 was small, and there was negligible impact on the annual CH4 emissions in 2018 despite the extreme meteorological conditions.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 2)’.