Methane Emissions from Wetlands

  • Released Wednesday, December 14, 2022
  • ID: 5054

Methane is an important greenhouse gas that’s contributed to around one third of global warming. About a third of total methane emissions comes from wetlands. Wetland habitats are filled with things like waterlogged soils and permafrost, which is what makes them sizable carbon sinks. But as a warming climate causes wetland soils to warm or flood, carbon is released into the atmosphere as methane.

Methane emissions from wetlands for the years 1980-2021. This version excludes title, date labels, and colorbar.

Methane emissions from wetlands for the years 1980-2021 mapped to a sphere.

Methane emissions from wetlands for the years 1980-2021 mapped to a sphere with dates and colorbar.



Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio


Papers

This visualization is based on the following papers:
  • Emerging role of wetland methane emissions in driving 21st century climate change, Zhen Zhang, Niklaus E. Zimmermann, Andrea Stenke, and Benjamin Poulter, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618765114

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