Methane

The EU funded project EYE-CLIMA aims to improve estimates of emissions and removals of the most important greenhouse gases, namely, co₂, methane, N2O and six F-gases, as well as the aerosol black carbon.

Arctic-boreal regions are warming at a much faster rate than the global mean. Arctic-boreal ecosystems combined are the largest reservoirs of terrestrial carbon and have long snow covered seasons. As a result, processes involved in these ecosystems have a high significance for global climate.

In REGAME we will update chemistry transport models (FLEXPART, OsloCTM) to include the kinetic isotope effect (KIE) of methane (CH4), enabling better constraints on the CH4 budget (KIE is dependent on source/ sink). We will update the atmospheric inversion framework FLXINVERT to include novel use of satellite CH4 fields (Sentinel 5P). This will include significant changes to FLEXINVERT, which will also be applicable to other satellite data e.g. carbon dioxide (co₂) and improve the model capabilities to handle large data fields in general. With these upgrades we assess CH4 emissions from the major sources (wetlands, biomass burning, anthropogenic) at the global scale using all available data (e.g. ICOS, NOAA data, data on ebas.nilu.no). This data includes measurements from the Zeppelin Observatory in the Arctic, to Troll in Antarctica, i.e. from pole-to-pole.

The EU-funded project VERIFY developed a system to estimate greenhouse gas emissions to support EU countries' emission reporting to the UN Framework Climate Change Convention Secretariaton Climate Change (UNFCCC). The emissions were estimated based on land, ocean and atmospheric observations. The project focused on the three major greenhouse gases responsible for global warming: carbon dioxide (co₂), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).   

How can the Norwegian food production - consumption system be changed towards sustainable production of more climate friendly food? This overarching question targets opportunities for climate change adaptation and emission reductions, but also looks for co-benefits for, and stronger links between, producers and consumers.