Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Kimberly, Idaho » Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #417935
Research Project: Developing Resilient Irrigated Cropping Systems in Concentrated Dairy Production Areas of the Semi-arid West

Location: Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research

Title: A research agenda toward atmospheric methane removal

Author
item DREYFUS, GABRIELLE - Institute For Governance & Sustainable Development
item BUCK, HOLLY - University Of Buffalo
item CADILLO-QUIROZ, HINSBY - Arizona State University
item CONVERSE, BENJAMIN - University Of Virginia
item HASAN, FARUQUE - Texas A&M University
item JACKSON, ROBERT - Stanford University
item JINNAH, SIKINA - University Of California Santa Cruz
item JONES, CHRISTOPHER - Stanford University
item Leytem, April
item MCKONE, THOMAS - University Of California Berkeley
item PANG, SIMON - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
item SANTIESTEBAN, JOSE - Exxonmobil
item STEIN, LISA - University Of Alberta
item TURNER, ALEX - University Of Washington
item WALTER ANTHONY, KATEY - University Of Alaska

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/20/2024
Publication Date: 10/2/2024
Citation: Dreyfus, G., Buck, H., Cadillo-Quiroz, H., Converse, B.A., Hasan, F., Jackson, R.B., Jinnah, S., Jones, C.W., Leytem, A.B., Mckone, T., Pang, S.H., Santiesteban, J.G., Stein, L.Y., Turner, A., Walter Anthony, K. 2024. A research agenda toward atmospheric methane removal. Book Chapter. https://doi.org/10.17226/27157.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/27157

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Methane (CH4) is the second most important greenhouse gas (GHG) contributing to human-driven warming behind carbon dioxide (CO2) . Methane has an atmospheric lifetime of 9-12 years and is over 80 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat over a 20-year period, meaning changes in atmospheric methane concentrations can significantly impact the timing and magnitude of peak warming mid-century. Large reductions in methane emissions are needed to limit end-of-century warming to 1.5 or 2 °C with limited overshoot; however, global methane emissions continue to rise. There are many well-established approaches for reducing anthropogenic methane emissions at their source (i.e., emissions mitigation), and accomplishing these reductions must remain a top priority. But given the urgent need to limit both near- and long-term warming, and the many barriers to achieving needed mitigation at scale, researchers have begun to explore the nascent concept of atmospheric methane removal. Together with reduced carbon dioxide emissions, rapid and sustained reductions in anthropogenic methane emissions are critical to limit warming in future decades. Atmospheric methane removal technologies, even if successfully developed, will not replace mitigation on timescales relevant to limiting peak warming this century.