Articles | Volume 26, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-15683-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-15683-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
09 Nov 2026
Research article |
| 09 Nov 2026
| 09 Nov 2026
Tropospheric oxidation chemistry and methane growth: a process-based attribution of OH variability (2003–2022)
Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory (ACOM), NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA
Mohammad Amin Mirrezaei
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, AZ, USA
Rafael P. Fernandez
School of Natural Sciences, National University of Cuyo (FCEN-UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina
Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, National Research Council (ICB-CONICET), Mendoza, Argentina
Ivan Ortega
Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory (ACOM), NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA
Louisa Emmons
Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory (ACOM), NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA
John Orlando
Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory (ACOM), NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA
Youmi Oh
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Lori Bruhwiler
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Shuo Chen
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Gabrielle Pétron
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Claire Granier
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Laboratoire d’Aérologie, CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
Nicolas Zilbermann
Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Idir Bouarar
Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
Guy P. Brasseur
Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory (ACOM), NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA
Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
Chuan Feng
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
Yangyang Xu
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
Alfonso Saiz-Lopez
Department of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate, Institute of Physical Chemistry Blas Cabrera, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Carlos A. Cuevas
Department of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate, Institute of Physical Chemistry Blas Cabrera, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Avelino F. Arellano Jr.
Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, AZ, USA
Data sets
Posterior CO emissions B. Gaubert https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13889018
TROPOMI Level 2 Carbon Monoxide products, Version 02 Copernicus Sentinel-5P https://doi.org/10.5270/S5P-bj3nry0
Short summary
Atmospheric methane levels have been rising in ways scientists struggle to explain. Much of the uncertainty lies in a chemical that removes methane from the air. Using a detailed model of the Earth, we found that chemistry plays an important role in the fate of methane in the atmosphere, even small variations need to be included to track methane accurately.
Atmospheric methane levels have been rising in ways scientists struggle to explain. Much of the...
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