This study provides the first comprehensive quantification of three major greenhouse gases (GHGs, including CO2, CH4, and N2O) budgets for Central and West Asia (CWA) from 2000 to 2020, including contributions from fossil fuels, industry, and managed and unmanaged terrestrial ecosystems. We use bottom-up (BU: inventories and process-based models) and top-down approaches (TD: atmospheric inversions) to elucidate CWA's GHG budget and its changes. BU and TD budgets consistently show that CWA was a significant and growing GHG source during the 2010s: average net emissions were 4,175 (range: 4,055–4,301) Tg CO2eq yr−1 based on BU and using global warming potentials over a 100-year period (GWP100), and slightly higher net emissions of 4,293 (3,760–4,826) Tg CO2eq yr−1 based on TD. BU estimates show that CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and fugitive releases were the dominant source, accounting for 61% of the total budget in the 2010s, with 2,554 (2,526–2,582) Tg CO2eq yr−1. Terrestrial natural ecosystems were a weak CO2 sink and sources of CH4 and N2O, which together resulted in a decadal mean net GHG emission of 220.5 (114.5–332.8) Tg CO2eq yr−1. Non-CO2 gases, primarily CH4, contributed significantly to the region's GHG emissions, accounting for 32% (BU) and 24% (TD) of CWA's total GHG budget under GWP100, and increasing to 57% (BU) and 49% (TD) with GWP20, highlighting CH4 stronger warming impact over shorter timescales. Overall, CWA contributed about 8% of global net GHG emissions in the 2010s, with about 10% of global CO2, 7% of CH4, and 3% of N2O.
QIN Xiaoyu;
TIAN Hanqin;
CANADELL Josep G.;
SHI Yu;
PAN Shufen;
BASTOS Ana;
CIAIS Philippe;
CRIPPA Monica;
PAN Naiqing;
PATRA Prabir;
POULTER Benjamin;
SAUNOIS Marielle;
SITCH Stephen;
2025-11-17
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
JRC140624
1944-9224 (online),
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2024GB008370,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC140624,
10.1029/2024GB008370 (online),
