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Climate change reduces warming potential of nitrous oxide by an enhanced Brewer‐Dobson circulation
Author(s) -
Kracher Daniela,
Reick Christian H.,
Manzini Elisa,
Schultz Martin G.,
Stein Olaf
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl068390
Subject(s) - environmental science , stratosphere , greenhouse gas , nitrous oxide , atmospheric sciences , radiative forcing , sink (geography) , global warming , troposphere , climate change , climatology , ozone depletion , context (archaeology) , ozone layer , greenhouse effect , global change , chemistry , physics , geology , oceanography , paleontology , cartography , organic chemistry , geography
The Brewer‐Dobson circulation (BDC), which is an important driver of the stratosphere‐troposphere exchange, is expected to accelerate with climate change. One particular consequence of this acceleration is the enhanced transport of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from its sources at the Earth's surface toward its main sink region in the stratosphere, thus inducing a reduction in its lifetime. N 2 O is a potent greenhouse gas and the most relevant currently emitted ozone‐depleting substance. Here we examine the implications of a reduced N 2 O lifetime in the context of climate change. We find a decrease in its global warming potential (GWP) and, due to a decline in the atmospheric N 2 O burden, also a reduction in its total radiative forcing. From the idealized transient global warming simulation we can identify linear regressions for N 2 O sink, lifetime, and GWP with temperature rise. Our findings are thus not restricted to a particular scenario.