Old carbon reservoirs were not important in the deglacial methane budget

M N Dyonisius; V V Petrenko; A M Smith; Q Hua; B Yang; J Schmitt; J Beck; B Seth; M Bock; B Hmiel; I Vimont; J A Menking; S A Shackleton; D Baggenstos; T K Bauska; R H Rhodes; P Sperlich; R Beaudette; C Harth; M Kalk; E J Brook; H Fischer; J P Severinghaus; R F Weiss

doi:10.1126/science.aax0504

Old carbon reservoirs were not important in the deglacial methane budget

Science. 2020 Feb 21;367(6480):907-910. doi: 10.1126/science.aax0504.

Authors

M N Dyonisius¹, V V Petrenko², A M Smith³, Q Hua³, B Yang³, J Schmitt⁴, J Beck⁴, B Seth⁴, M Bock⁴, B Hmiel², I Vimont⁵, J A Menking⁶, S A Shackleton⁷, D Baggenstos^{4

7}, T K Bauska^{6

8}, R H Rhodes^{6

9}, P Sperlich¹⁰, R Beaudette⁷, C Harth⁷, M Kalk⁶, E J Brook⁶, H Fischer⁴, J P Severinghaus⁷, R F Weiss⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA. [email protected].
² Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA.
³ Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia.
⁴ Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
⁵ Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA.
⁶ College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
⁷ Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
⁸ British Antarctic Survey High Cross, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
⁹ Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK.
¹⁰ National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), 6021 Wellington, New Zealand.

PMID: 32079770
DOI: 10.1126/science.aax0504

Abstract

Permafrost and methane hydrates are large, climate-sensitive old carbon reservoirs that have the potential to emit large quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, as the Earth continues to warm. We present ice core isotopic measurements of methane (Δ¹⁴C, δ¹³C, and δD) from the last deglaciation, which is a partial analog for modern warming. Our results show that methane emissions from old carbon reservoirs in response to deglacial warming were small (<19 teragrams of methane per year, 95% confidence interval) and argue against similar methane emissions in response to future warming. Our results also indicate that methane emissions from biomass burning in the pre-Industrial Holocene were 22 to 56 teragrams of methane per year (95% confidence interval), which is comparable to today.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding