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Cited by 430

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Atmospheric methane levels off: Temporary pause or a new steady‐state?

Open access
Dlugokencky, E. J., Houweling, S., Bruhwiler, L., Masarie, K. A., Lang, P. M., Miller, J. B., Tans, P. P.·2003·Geophysical Research Letters

Abstract

The globally‐averaged atmospheric methane abundance determined from an extensive network of surface air sampling sites was constant at ∼1751 ppb from 1999 through 2002. Assuming that the methane lifetime has been constant, this implies that during this 4‐year period the global methane budget has been at steady state. We also observed a significant decrease in the difference between northern and southern polar zonal annual averages of CH 4 from 1991 to 1992. Using a 3‐D transport model, we show that this change is consistent with a decrease in CH 4 emissions of ∼10 Tg CH 4 from north of 50°N in the early‐1990s. This decrease in emissions may have accelerated the global methane budget towards steady state. Based on current knowledge of the global methane budget and how it has changed with time, it is not possible to tell if the atmospheric methane burden has peaked, or if we are only observing a persistent, but temporary pause in its increase.

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Metadata

Authors
Dlugokencky, E. J., Houweling, S., Bruhwiler, L., Masarie, K. A., Lang, P. M., Miller, J. B., & Tans, P. P.
Venue
Geophysical Research Letters
Published
2003-10
Volume
30
Issue
19
ISSN
  • 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
  • 1944-8007
OpenAlex
W1970576121
Cited by
430
References
1
FWCI
26.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
bronze

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Atmospheric methane levels off: Temporary pause or a new steady‐state? https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1029/2003gl018126
The paper
Dlugokencky, E. J., Houweling, S., Bruhwiler, L., Masarie, K. A., Lang, P. M., Miller, J. B., & Tans, P. P. (2003). Atmospheric methane levels off: Temporary pause or a new steady‐state? Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2003gl018126

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