Mohammad Aslam Khan Khalil (Ed.) Atmospheric Methane

Transcription

1 Mohammad Aslam Khan Khalil (Ed.) Atmospheric Methane

2 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH

3 Mohammad Aslam Khan Khalil (Ed.) Atmospheric Methane Its Role in the Global Environment With 61 Figures and 49 Tables Springer

4 Professor Dr. MOHAMMAD ASLAM KHAN KHALIL Department of Physics Portland State University P.O. Box 751 Portland, OR USA ISBN Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Khalil, M. A. K. (Mohammad Aslam Khan), Atmospheric methane : its role in the global environment / M.A.K. Khalil. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Atmospheric methane. I. Title QC K '12--dc21 This work is subject to copyright. All rights reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2000 Originally published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York in 2000 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 2000 The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: Typesetting: Camera ready by editors SPIN / O - Printed on acid-free paper

5 Preface Atmospheric methane is an important trace gas involved in man-made climate change. It may be second only to carbon dioxide in causing global warming. Methane affects also the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere by controlling tropospheric OH radicals and creating 0 3, and it affects the ozone layer in the stratosphere by contributing water vapor and removing chlorine atoms. In the long term, methane is a natural product of life on earth, reaching high concentrations during warm and biologically productive epochs. Yet the scientific understanding of atmospheric methane has evolved mostly during the past two decade after it was shown that concentrations were rapidly rising. The first edition of this book was commissioned by North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Scientific and Environmental Affairs Division as a product of an Advanced Research Workshop (NA TO-ARW). The conference was held during the week of October 6, 1991, at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood near Portland, Oregon. About 100 scientists participated. This is the second edition of the book that has been revised, trimmed, and brought up to date. The book is not a collection of specialized research articles, but rather it consists of review articles that form a coordinated whole. The logic of the organization is to answer four questions that follow each other. How are methane concentrations measured in the atmosphere? What do the measurements tell us about atmospheric distributions and trends? How do we explain the observed concentrations in terms of the specific sources and sinks? And fmally, what are the implications of these observations for the environment? We go from the most experimental to the most theoretical. Results of original research, I believe, belong in peer-reviewed journals instead of a book such as this. Accordingly, some 55 technical papers, arising from the NATO-ARW were published in Chemosphere, 26 #s 1-4 (1993) written by 125 authors from all over the world. This publication remains a companion volume for the present version of the book. In putting together this book I was fortunate to have the support of my family, of many friends and colleagues, and of generous sponsors. I especially want to thank Martha 1. Shearer, Edie Taylor, and Francis Moraes. I received much valuable advice, encouragement, and major contributions from the organizing committee for the Advanced Research W OIkshop, which consisted of Paul Crutzen, Robert Harriss, Rei Rasmussen, Dominique Raynaud, and Wolfgang Seiler. Major fmancial support from NATO's Scientific and Environmental Affairs Division was the foundation for this work and is gratefully acknowledged. The critical involvement of scientists from many non-nato countries and the excess of U.S. scientists was supported by supplementary grants from the National Science Foundation (A TM ) and the United States Environmental protection agency (Order No. 1-W NASA). Both these grants were given to Andarz Company, which provided additional support. M.A.K. Khalil, Professor Department of Physics Portland State University P.O. Box 751 Portland, Oregon , USA July 1999

6 Contents Atmospheric Methane: An Introduction Khalil Record of Atmospheric Methane 2 The Ice Core Record of Atmospheric Methane Chappellaz, Raynaud, Blunier, and Stauffer 9 3 The Isotopic Composition of Atmospheric Methane and Its Sources Stevens and Wahlen 25 Formation and Consumption of Methane 4 Biological Formation and Consumption of Methane Boone 42 Sources and Sinks 5 Can Stable Isotopes and Global Budgets Be Used to Constrain Atmospheric Methane Budgets? Whiticar 63 6 Methane Sinks, Distributions, and Trends Khalil, Shearer, and Rasmussen 86 7 Sources of Methane: An Overview Khalil and Shearer 98 Methane Emissions from Individual Sources 8 Ruminants and Other Animals Johnson, Johnson, Ward, and Branine Rice Agriculture: Factors Controlling Emissions Neue and Roger Rice Agriculture: Emissions Shearer and Khalil Biomass Burning Levine, Cofer, and Pinto Wetlands Matthews Waste Management Thorneloe, Barlaz, Peer, Huff, Davis, and Mangino Fossil Fuel Industries Kirchgessner Geological Sources of Methane Judd 280 The Environmental Role of Methane and Current Issues 16 Methane in the Global Environment Wuebbles, Hayhoe, and Kotamarthi 304 Index 343