Articles | Volume 21, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3643-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3643-2021
Research article
 | 
10 Mar 2021
Research article |  | 10 Mar 2021

Attribution of the accelerating increase in atmospheric methane during 2010–2018 by inverse analysis of GOSAT observations

Yuzhong Zhang, Daniel J. Jacob, Xiao Lu, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Tia R. Scarpelli, Jian-Xiong Sheng, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Jinfeng Chang, A. Anthony Bloom, Shuang Ma, John Worden, Robert J. Parker, and Hartmut Boesch

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ACE Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment: ACE-FTS satellite observations, available at: http://www.ace.uwaterloo.ca/data.php, last access: 20 July 2020. 
Alexe, M., Bergamaschi, P., Segers, A., Detmers, R., Butz, A., Hasekamp, O., Guerlet, S., Parker, R., Boesch, H., Frankenberg, C., Scheepmaker, R. A., Dlugokencky, E., Sweeney, C., Wofsy, S. C., and Kort, E. A.: Inverse modelling of CH4 emissions for 2010–2011 using different satellite retrieval products from GOSAT and SCIAMACHY, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 113–133, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-113-2015, 2015. 
Baray, S., Jacob, D. J., Massakkers, J. D., Sheng, J.-X., Sulprizio, M. P., Jones, D. B. A., Bloom, A. A., and McLaren, R.: Estimating 2010–2015 Anthropogenic and Natural Methane Emissions in Canada using ECCC Surface and GOSAT Satellite Observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2020-1195, in review, 2021. 
Barichivich, J., Gloor, E., Peylin, P., Brienen, R. J. W., Schöngart, J., Espinoza, J. C., and Pattnayak, K. C.: Recent intensification of Amazon flooding extremes driven by strengthened Walker circulation, Sci. Adv., 4, eaat8785, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat8785, 2018. 
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Short summary
We use 2010–2018 satellite observations of atmospheric methane to interpret the factors controlling atmospheric methane and its accelerating increase during the period. The 2010–2018 increase in global methane emissions is driven by tropical and boreal wetlands and tropical livestock (South Asia, Africa, Brazil), with an insignificant positive trend in emissions from the fossil fuel sector. The peak methane growth rates in 2014–2015 are also contributed by low OH and high fire emissions.
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