Seasonal Variations of Greenhouse Gases: Methane

The greenhouse gas methane is an important contributor to global climate change, yet until the early 1980's little effort had been made to quantitatively measure methane levels in the atmosphere and only recently has methane variation been measured continuously via satellite.  In China scientists have used Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) to determine that mid-upper tropospheric methane undergoes seasonal variations due to mixing, much like that of ozone in the stratosphere.  The data suggests that not only does increased industrialization result in higher methane concentrations, its effects on global warming can greatly vary depending on seasonal variations.    Article