03.12.2015: Global warming is considered to trigger positive feedback mechanisms in the Arctic with a high potential for additional warming. How much methane, as a potent greenhouse gas, contributes to this additional warming potential is assessed in the recent Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) report „AMAP Assessment 2015: Methane as an Arctic climate forcer“, which was co-authored by Dr. Torsten Sachs, GFZ section Anorganic and Isotope Geochemistry and leader of the Helmholtz Young Investigators Group TEAM.

Contrary to CO2 with its long atmospheric life-time, methane is a short-lived climate forcer, a so-called short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP). These have a strong climate effect within a short time span and can amplify global warming. Increasing atmospheric methane concentrations have already contributed 0.5 °C of warming in the Arctic according to climate models. This warming is estimated to increase natural methane emissions by 50% until 2050. Torsten Sachs co-authored chapter 3 of the AMAP report, „Natural terrestrial methane sources in the Arctic“, which assesses methane emissions from wetlands and freshwater systems in the Arctic tundra. Insufficient baseline data impose a particularly large uncertainty on emission estimates from these natural sources. The assessment calls for airborne measurements and space-based monitoring combined with more continuous ground-based data acquisition to improve the spatial and temporal coverage of these observations.

AMAP is a programme of the Arctic Council, a high-level intergovernmental forum originally established in 1996 to assess issues faced by the Arctic governments and indigenous peoples. Nowadays, the Arctic Council increasingly deals with strategic, economic, and security issues in the region. Germany is an observer to the Arctic Council.

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