New discovery in atmospheric chemistry helps predict methane’s role in climate change - Climate.gov
New discovery in atmospheric chemistry helps predict methane’s role in climate change | NOAA Climate.gov
New discovery in atmospheric chemistry helps predict methane’s role in climate change
The newly discovered atmospheric reaction changes methane estimates. Credit: Pixabay
In a study published in Science, scientists describe a newly discovered reaction that improves modeling of methane in the atmosphere. Modeling methane’s atmospheric lifetime is important to understanding how the potent greenhouse gas contributes to climate change. To date, models consistently overestimate the amount of hydroxyl radicals (OH), the molecules responsible for breaking down methane, in the atmosphere, leading scientists to calculate that methane will break down faster than it actually does. In the newly discovered reaction, water vapor absorbs ultraviolet light, reducing the availability of sunlight to create OH. This finding helps explain why existing models overestimate OH levels and, consequently, methane’s atmospheric breakdown rate.
Related Knowledge Center: Air emissions
More than 30 years after the last major update of the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Supreme Court has upended the ability of Congress to give the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies broad scope to combat air pollution, including the emission of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, further Biden administration efforts to limit emissions face opposition in the courts.