Radiocarbon monoxide indicates increasing atmospheric oxidizing capacity
Abstract Hydroxyl (OH) is the atmosphere’s main oxidant removing most pollutants including methane. Its short lifetime prevents large-scale direct observational quantification. Abundances inferred using anthropogenic trace gas measurements and models yield conflicting trend estimates. By contrast, r...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55603-1 |
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| author | Olaf Morgenstern Rowena Moss Martin Manning Guang Zeng Hinrich Schaefer Ilya Usoskin Jocelyn Turnbull Gordon Brailsford Sylvia Nichol Tony Bromley |
| author_facet | Olaf Morgenstern Rowena Moss Martin Manning Guang Zeng Hinrich Schaefer Ilya Usoskin Jocelyn Turnbull Gordon Brailsford Sylvia Nichol Tony Bromley |
| author_sort | Olaf Morgenstern |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Hydroxyl (OH) is the atmosphere’s main oxidant removing most pollutants including methane. Its short lifetime prevents large-scale direct observational quantification. Abundances inferred using anthropogenic trace gas measurements and models yield conflicting trend estimates. By contrast, radiocarbon monoxide (14CO), produced naturally by cosmic rays and almost exclusively removed by OH, is a tracer with a well-understood source. Here we show that Southern-Hemisphere 14CO measurements indicate increasing OH. New Zealand 14CO data exhibit an annual-mean decrease of 12 ± 2% since 1997, whereas Antarctic measurements show a December-January decrease of 43 ± 24%. Both imply similar OH increases, corroborating our own and other model results suggesting that OH has been globally increasing during recent decades. Model sensitivity simulations illustrate the roles of methane, nitrogen oxides, stratospheric ozone depletion, and global warming driving these trends. They have substantial implications for the budgets of pollutants removed by OH, and especially imply larger than documented methane emission increases. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8a53a39c613a4c8bb5c0a105e0d87a6b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-8a53a39c613a4c8bb5c0a105e0d87a6b2025-01-05T12:38:49ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111110.1038/s41467-024-55603-1Radiocarbon monoxide indicates increasing atmospheric oxidizing capacityOlaf Morgenstern0Rowena Moss1Martin Manning2Guang Zeng3Hinrich Schaefer4Ilya Usoskin5Jocelyn Turnbull6Gordon Brailsford7Sylvia Nichol8Tony Bromley9National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)School of Geography, Victoria University of WellingtonNational Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, Space Physics and Astronomy Research Unit, University of OuluRafter Radiocarbon Laboratory, GNS ScienceNational Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)Abstract Hydroxyl (OH) is the atmosphere’s main oxidant removing most pollutants including methane. Its short lifetime prevents large-scale direct observational quantification. Abundances inferred using anthropogenic trace gas measurements and models yield conflicting trend estimates. By contrast, radiocarbon monoxide (14CO), produced naturally by cosmic rays and almost exclusively removed by OH, is a tracer with a well-understood source. Here we show that Southern-Hemisphere 14CO measurements indicate increasing OH. New Zealand 14CO data exhibit an annual-mean decrease of 12 ± 2% since 1997, whereas Antarctic measurements show a December-January decrease of 43 ± 24%. Both imply similar OH increases, corroborating our own and other model results suggesting that OH has been globally increasing during recent decades. Model sensitivity simulations illustrate the roles of methane, nitrogen oxides, stratospheric ozone depletion, and global warming driving these trends. They have substantial implications for the budgets of pollutants removed by OH, and especially imply larger than documented methane emission increases.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55603-1 |
| spellingShingle | Olaf Morgenstern Rowena Moss Martin Manning Guang Zeng Hinrich Schaefer Ilya Usoskin Jocelyn Turnbull Gordon Brailsford Sylvia Nichol Tony Bromley Radiocarbon monoxide indicates increasing atmospheric oxidizing capacity Nature Communications |
| title | Radiocarbon monoxide indicates increasing atmospheric oxidizing capacity |
| title_full | Radiocarbon monoxide indicates increasing atmospheric oxidizing capacity |
| title_fullStr | Radiocarbon monoxide indicates increasing atmospheric oxidizing capacity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Radiocarbon monoxide indicates increasing atmospheric oxidizing capacity |
| title_short | Radiocarbon monoxide indicates increasing atmospheric oxidizing capacity |
| title_sort | radiocarbon monoxide indicates increasing atmospheric oxidizing capacity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55603-1 |
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