HR: 1340h
AN: A23A-0770    [Abstracts]
TI: Reducing Tropospheric Ozone Through Methane Mitigation: Costs and Benefits
AU: * West, J
EM: jwest@alumni.duke.edu
AF: Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540
AU: * West, J
EM: jwest@alumni.duke.edu
AF: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540
AU: Fiore, A
EM: arlene.fiore@noaa.gov
AF: Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540
AB: Background ozone concentrations are sensitive to emissions of methane, and climate abatement research suggests that inexpensive methane controls are available. Recent estimates of the sensitivity of ozone to reductions in methane emissions are combined here with estimates of methane control costs and the health and environmental benefits of ozone reductions, to assess the viability of controlling ozone through methane. Identified global cost-saving methane abatement measures will reduce ozone by roughly 0.7 ppb, with reductions that are fairly uniform globally. The global monetized health and agricultural benefits of reducing ozone are estimated to justify reducing $\sim$20% of anthropogenic emissions, without including ozone mortality. Similarly, actions to reduce methane for climate purposes are estimated to have air quality-related ancillary benefits comparable to those of CO2. While methane mitigation reduces ozone more cost-effectively and achieves greater climate benefits than global controls on nitrogen oxides (NOx) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), methane reduces ozone slowly over a decade, and NOx and NMVOC controls target polluted regions and high-ozone episodes. Increased methane redcutions should be considered alongside NOx and NMVOCs for long-term air quality planning, and because methane reduces ozone internationally, industrialized nations should consider emphasizing methane in the development of unilateral or cooperative climate change or ozone policies.
DE: 0365 Troposphere--composition and chemistry
DE: 0368 Troposphere--constituent transport and chemistry
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting