Tropical methane emissions explain large fraction of recent changes in global atmospheric methane growth rate

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with emissions that are challenging to constrain. Here the authors use 10 years of satellite observations and show tropical terrestrial emissions account for 80% of observed global methane increases. Large variations in the growth of atmospheric methane, a prominent greenhouse gas, are driven by a diverse range of anthropogenic and natural emissions and by loss from oxidation by the hydroxyl radical. We used a decade-long dataset (2010-2019) of satellite observations of methane to show that tropical terrestrial emissions explain more than 80% of the observed changes in the global atmospheric methane growth rate over this period. Using correlative meteorological analyses, we show strong seasonal correlations (r = 0.6-0.8) between large-scale changes in sea surface temperature over the tropical oceans and regional variations in methane emissions (via changes in rainfall and temperature) over tropical South America and tropical Africa. Existing predictive skill for sea surface temperature variations could therefore be used to help forecast variations in global atmospheric methane.

Automated summary

This study reveals that tropical terrestrial emissions contribute significantly to global methane increases. The researchers also found strong seasonal correlations between changes in sea surface temperature and methane emissions in tropical South America and tropical Africa.