1,3,4,5,6- 1Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- 2Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- 3Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- 4Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, France
- 5California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- 6Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas, contributing approximately 25% of anthropogenic warming since pre-industrial times. Recent years have seen a rapid, largely unexplained acceleration in its atmospheric growth rate, with record increases during 2020–2022. While prevailing research focuses on surface emissions and tropospheric sinks, the influence of the stratosphere remains largely treated as a static boundary condition. Here, we present observational evidence of stratospheric impacts that shows critical yet underexplored factors affecting atmospheric methane growth. These findings suggest that natural variability in stratospheric dynamics is a significant, yet overlooked, driver of the global methane budget, with implications for attribution studies and climate projections.
How to cite: Yin, Y., Nguyen, N., Wang, Q., Turner, A., Chevallier, F., and Frankenberg, C.: Natural Variability in Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange: An Underappreciated Driver of Global Methane Growth Rates, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21945, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21945, 2026.
