Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Budgets of Europe: Trends, Interannual and Spatial Variability, and Their Drivers

Abstract In the framework of the RECCAP2 initiative, we present the greenhouse gas (GHG) and carbon (C) budget of Europe. For the decade of the 2010s, we present a bottom‐up (BU) estimate of GHG net‐emissions of 3.9 Pg CO 2 ‐eq. yr −1 (using a global warming potential on a 100 years horizon), which are largely dominated by fossil fuel emissions. In this decade, terrestrial ecosystems acted as a net GHG sink of 0.9 Pg CO 2 ‐eq. yr −1 , dominated by a CO 2 sink that was partially counterbalanced by net emissions of CH 4 and N 2 O. For CH 4 and N 2 O, we find good agreement between BU and top‐down (TD) estimates from atmospheric inversions. However, our BU land CO 2 sink is significantly higher than the TD estimates. We further show that decadal averages of GHG net‐emissions have declined by 1.2 Pg CO 2 ‐eq. yr −1 since the 1990s, mainly due to a reduction in fossil fuel emissions. In addition, based on both data driven BU and TD estimates, we also find that the land CO 2 sink has weakened over the past two decades. A large part of the European CO 2 and C sinks is located in Northern Europe. At the same time, we find a decreasing trend in sink strength in Scandinavia, which can be attributed to an increase in forest management intensity. These are partly offset by increasing CO 2 sinks in parts of Eastern Europe and Northern Spain, attributed in part to land use change. Extensive regions of high CH 4 and N 2 O emissions are mainly attributed to agricultural activities and are found in Belgium, the Netherlands and the southern UK. We further analyzed interannual variability in the GHG budgets. The drought year of 2003 shows the highest net‐emissions of CO 2 and of all GHGs combined.

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Publication Details

Journal
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Published
2024-08-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gb008141
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.70

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article

Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Budgets of Europe: Trends, Interannual and Spatial Variability, and Their Drivers

Frédéric Chevallier, François Ritter, Pierre Friedlingstein, Antoine Berchet et al.
6 citations
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics
1.70
article

Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Budgets of Europe: Trends, Interannual and Spatial Variability, and Their Drivers

Frédéric Chevallier, François Ritter, Pierre Friedlingstein, Antoine Berchet, Piyu Ke, Karina Winkler, Yitong Yao, Dominik Brunner, Saqr Munassar, Mart‐Jan Schelhaas, Sönke Zaehle, Grégoire Broquet, Marielle Saunois, Pierre Regnier, Ana Maria Roxana Petrescu, Sander Houweling, Sara Filipek, Christoph Gerbig, G.J. Nabuurs, Giovanni Forzieri, Jean‐Pierre Wigneron, Philippe Peylin, Guillaume Monteil, Alessandro Cescatti, Matthew J. McGrath, Robbie M. Andrew, Ana Bastos, Wanjing Li, Julia Pongratz, Prabir K. Patra, Stephen A. Sitch, Audrey Fortems‐Cheiney, Philippe Ciais, Chris Wilson, Rona L. Thompson, Richard Fuchs, Aki Tsuruta, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Ronny Lauerwald, Marko Scholze, Wei Li, Xiaojun Li, Hanqin Tian, Bas J. W. Lerink
article en
6 citations

Abstract

Abstract In the framework of the RECCAP2 initiative, we present the greenhouse gas (GHG) and carbon (C) budget of Europe. For the decade of the 2010s, we present a bottom‐up (BU) estimate of GHG net‐emissions of 3.9 Pg CO 2 ‐eq. yr −1 (using a global warming potential on a 100 years horizon), which are largely dominated by fossil fuel emissions. In this decade, terrestrial ecosystems acted as a net GHG sink of 0.9 Pg CO 2 ‐eq. yr −1 , dominated by a CO 2 sink that was partially counterbalanced by net emissions of CH 4 and N 2 O. For CH 4 and N 2 O, we find good agreement between BU and top‐down (TD) estimates from atmospheric inversions. However, our BU land CO 2 sink is significantly higher than the TD estimates. We further show that decadal averages of GHG net‐emissions have declined by 1.2 Pg CO 2 ‐eq. yr −1 since the 1990s, mainly due to a reduction in fossil fuel emissions. In addition, based on both data driven BU and TD estimates, we also find that the land CO 2 sink has weakened over the past two decades. A large part of the European CO 2 and C sinks is located in Northern Europe. At the same time, we find a decreasing trend in sink strength in Scandinavia, which can be attributed to an increase in forest management intensity. These are partly offset by increasing CO 2 sinks in parts of Eastern Europe and Northern Spain, attributed in part to land use change. Extensive regions of high CH 4 and N 2 O emissions are mainly attributed to agricultural activities and are found in Belgium, the Netherlands and the southern UK. We further analyzed interannual variability in the GHG budgets. The drought year of 2003 shows the highest net‐emissions of CO 2 and of all GHGs combined.

Global Biogeochemical CyclesVol. 38(8)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE), Boston College (US), Finnish Meteorological Institute (FI), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Leeds (GB), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JP), Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE), Max Planck Society (DE), Université de Bordeaux (FR), Lund University (SE), ParisTech (FR), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR), AgroParisTech (FR), University of Exeter (GB), Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Sorbonne Université (FR), Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (FR), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), CICERO Center for International Climate Research (NO), Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (FR), Joint Research Centre (IT), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (FR), National Centre for Earth Observation (GB), CEA Paris-Saclay (FR), Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (DE), Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (JP), Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (DE), University of Florence (IT), NILU (NO), Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (CH), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL), Wageningen University & Research (NL), Tsinghua University (CN)
Sight Research UK, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Natural Environment Research Council, European Research Council, Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics
1.70
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