Enhanced atmospheric oxidation toward carbon neutrality reduces methane’s climate forcing
Abstract The hydroxyl radical (OH), as the central atmospheric oxidant, controls the removal rates of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. It is being suggested that OH levels would decrease with reductions of nitrogen oxides and ozone levels by climate polices, but this remains unsettled. Here, we s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47436-9 |
| _version_ | 1827284235950489600 |
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| author | Mingxu Liu Yu Song Hitoshi Matsui Fang Shang Ling Kang Xuhui Cai Hongsheng Zhang Tong Zhu |
| author_facet | Mingxu Liu Yu Song Hitoshi Matsui Fang Shang Ling Kang Xuhui Cai Hongsheng Zhang Tong Zhu |
| author_sort | Mingxu Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The hydroxyl radical (OH), as the central atmospheric oxidant, controls the removal rates of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. It is being suggested that OH levels would decrease with reductions of nitrogen oxides and ozone levels by climate polices, but this remains unsettled. Here, we show that driven by the carbon neutrality pledge, the global-mean OH concentration, derived from multiple chemistry-climate model simulations, is projected to be significantly increasing with a trend of 0.071‒0.16% per year during 2015–2100. The leading cause of this OH enhancement is dramatic decreases in carbon monoxide and methane concentrations, which together reduce OH sinks. The OH increase shortens methane’s lifetime by 0.19‒1.1 years across models and subsequently diminishes methane’s radiative forcing. If following a largely unmitigated scenario, the global OH exhibits a significant decrease that would exacerbate methane’s radiative forcing. Thus, we highlight that targeted emission abatement strategies for sustained oxidation capacity can benefit climate change mitigation in the Anthropocene. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:51:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f012f98f89c413fb5bee2d546f5e66e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:51:16Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f012f98f89c413fb5bee2d546f5e66e2024-04-14T11:22:17ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-04-011511810.1038/s41467-024-47436-9Enhanced atmospheric oxidation toward carbon neutrality reduces methane’s climate forcingMingxu Liu0Yu Song1Hitoshi Matsui2Fang Shang3Ling Kang4Xuhui Cai5Hongsheng Zhang6Tong Zhu7State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking UniversityState Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking UniversityGraduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya UniversityState Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking UniversityState Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking UniversityState Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking UniversityLaboratory for Atmosphere-Ocean Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, School of Physics, Peking UniversityState Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking UniversityAbstract The hydroxyl radical (OH), as the central atmospheric oxidant, controls the removal rates of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. It is being suggested that OH levels would decrease with reductions of nitrogen oxides and ozone levels by climate polices, but this remains unsettled. Here, we show that driven by the carbon neutrality pledge, the global-mean OH concentration, derived from multiple chemistry-climate model simulations, is projected to be significantly increasing with a trend of 0.071‒0.16% per year during 2015–2100. The leading cause of this OH enhancement is dramatic decreases in carbon monoxide and methane concentrations, which together reduce OH sinks. The OH increase shortens methane’s lifetime by 0.19‒1.1 years across models and subsequently diminishes methane’s radiative forcing. If following a largely unmitigated scenario, the global OH exhibits a significant decrease that would exacerbate methane’s radiative forcing. Thus, we highlight that targeted emission abatement strategies for sustained oxidation capacity can benefit climate change mitigation in the Anthropocene.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47436-9 |
| spellingShingle | Mingxu Liu Yu Song Hitoshi Matsui Fang Shang Ling Kang Xuhui Cai Hongsheng Zhang Tong Zhu Enhanced atmospheric oxidation toward carbon neutrality reduces methane’s climate forcing Nature Communications |
| title | Enhanced atmospheric oxidation toward carbon neutrality reduces methane’s climate forcing |
| title_full | Enhanced atmospheric oxidation toward carbon neutrality reduces methane’s climate forcing |
| title_fullStr | Enhanced atmospheric oxidation toward carbon neutrality reduces methane’s climate forcing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhanced atmospheric oxidation toward carbon neutrality reduces methane’s climate forcing |
| title_short | Enhanced atmospheric oxidation toward carbon neutrality reduces methane’s climate forcing |
| title_sort | enhanced atmospheric oxidation toward carbon neutrality reduces methane s climate forcing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47436-9 |
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