Journal article
A comprehensive quantification of global nitrous oxide sources and sinks
Nature (London), Vol.586(7828), pp.248-256
10/2020
PMID: 33028999
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Abstract
Nitrous oxide (N
O), like carbon dioxide, is a long-lived greenhouse gas that accumulates in the atmosphere. Over the past 150 years, increasing atmospheric N
O concentrations have contributed to stratospheric ozone depletion
and climate change
, with the current rate of increase estimated at 2 per cent per decade. Existing national inventories do not provide a full picture of N
O emissions, owing to their omission of natural sources and limitations in methodology for attributing anthropogenic sources. Here we present a global N
O inventory that incorporates both natural and anthropogenic sources and accounts for the interaction between nitrogen additions and the biochemical processes that control N
O emissions. We use bottom-up (inventory, statistical extrapolation of flux measurements, process-based land and ocean modelling) and top-down (atmospheric inversion) approaches to provide a comprehensive quantification of global N
O sources and sinks resulting from 21 natural and human sectors between 1980 and 2016. Global N
O emissions were 17.0 (minimum-maximum estimates: 12.2-23.5) teragrams of nitrogen per year (bottom-up) and 16.9 (15.9-17.7) teragrams of nitrogen per year (top-down) between 2007 and 2016. Global human-induced emissions, which are dominated by nitrogen additions to croplands, increased by 30% over the past four decades to 7.3 (4.2-11.4) teragrams of nitrogen per year. This increase was mainly responsible for the growth in the atmospheric burden. Our findings point to growing N
O emissions in emerging economies-particularly Brazil, China and India. Analysis of process-based model estimates reveals an emerging N
O-climate feedback resulting from interactions between nitrogen additions and climate change. The recent growth in N
O emissions exceeds some of the highest projected emission scenarios
, underscoring the urgency to mitigate N
O emissions.
Details
- Title
- A comprehensive quantification of global nitrous oxide sources and sinks
- Creators
- Hanqin Tian (Author) - International Center for Climate and Global Change Research, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA. tianhan@auburn.eduRongting Xu (Author) - International Center for Climate and Global Change Research, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USAJosep G Canadell (Author) - Global Carbon Project, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, AustraliaRona L Thompson (Author) - Norsk Institutt for Luftforskning, NILU, Kjeller, NorwayWilfried Winiwarter (Author) - Institute of Environmental Engineering, University of Zielona Góra, Zielona Góra, PolandParvadha Suntharalingam (Author) - School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UKEric A Davidson (Author) - Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Frostburg, MD, USAPhilippe Ciais (Author) - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE, CEA CNRS, UVSQ UPSACLAY, Gif sur Yvette, FranceRobert B Jackson (Author) - Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USAGreet Janssens-Maenhout (Author) - Ghent University, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent, BelgiumMichael J Prather (Author) - Department of Earth System Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USAPierre Regnier (Author) - Department of Geoscience, Environment & Society, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BelgiumNaiqing Pan (Author) - State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaShufen Pan (Author) - International Center for Climate and Global Change Research, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USAGlen P Peters (Author) - CICERO Center for International Climate Research, Oslo, NorwayHao Shi (Author) - International Center for Climate and Global Change Research, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USAFrancesco N Tubiello (Author) - Statistics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, ItalySönke Zaehle - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, GermanyFeng Zhou - Sino-France Institute of Earth Systems Science, Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaAlmut Arneth (Author) - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research/Atmospheric Environmental Research, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GermanyGianna Battaglia (Author) - Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandSarah Berthet (Author) - Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM), Université de Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, Toulouse, FranceLaurent Bopp (Author) - LMD-IPSL, Ecole Normale Supérieure / PSL Université, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, FranceAlexander F Bouwman (Author) - Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, ChinaErik T Buitenhuis (Author) - Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UKJinfeng Chang (Author) - College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaMartyn P Chipperfield (Author) - Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKShree R S Dangal (Author) - Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, MA, USAEdward Dlugokencky (Author) - NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USAJames W Elkins (Author) - NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USABradley D Eyre (Author) - Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry, School of Environment Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, AustraliaBojie Fu (Author) - Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaBradley Hall (Author) - NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USAAkihiko Ito (Author) - Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, JapanFortunat Joos (Author) - Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandPaul B Krummel (Author) - Climate Science Centre, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Aspendale, Victoria, AustraliaAngela Landolfi (Author) - Istituto di Scienze Marine, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Rome, ItalyGoulven G Laruelle (Author) - Department of Geoscience, Environment & Society, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BelgiumRonny Lauerwald (Author) - Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, UMR ECOSYS, Thiverval-Grignon, FranceWei Li (Author) - Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaSebastian Lienert (Author) - Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandTaylor Maavara (Author) - Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT, USAMichael MacLeod (Author) - Land Economy, Environment & Society, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh, UKDylan B Millet (Author) - Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USAStefan Olin (Author) - Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund, SwedenPrabir K Patra (Author) - Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University, Chiba, JapanRonald G Prinn (Author) - Center for Global Change Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USAPeter A Raymond (Author) - Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT, USADaniel J Ruiz (Author) - Department of Earth System Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USAGuido R van der Werf (Author) - Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsNicolas Vuichard (Author) - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE, CEA CNRS, UVSQ UPSACLAY, Gif sur Yvette, FranceJunjie Wang (Author) - Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, ChinaRay F Weiss (Author) - Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USAKelley C Wells (Author) - Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USAChris Wilson (Author) - Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKJia Yang (Author) - Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USAYuanzhi Yao (Author) - International Center for Climate and Global Change Research, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Publication Details
- Nature (London), Vol.586(7828), pp.248-256
- Publisher
- Nature Publishers; England
- Identifiers
- 991012925000702368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article