20th century ethane variability from polar firn air and implications for the methane budget

Methane and ethane are the most abundant hydrocarbons in the atmosphere and they impact both atmospheric chemistry and climate. Both gases are emitted from fossil fuels and biomass burning, while methane alone has large sources from wetlands, agriculture, landfills and wastewater. Here we use measurements in firn air from Greenland and Antarctica to reconstruct the atmospheric variability of ethane during the 20th century. Ethane levels rose from early in the century until the 1980’s when the trend reverses, with a period of decline over the next 20 years. This variability is primarily driven by changes in ethane emissions from fossil fuels that peaked in the 1960’s and 1970’s at 14-16 Tg/y and dropped to 8-10 Tg/y before the end of the century. The reduction in fossil-fuel sources is likely related to changes in light hydrocarbon recovery during petroleum production and use. The ethane-based emission history implies that the decline in the fossil-fuel source of methane may have started prior to the 1980’s and that the magnitude of the decline is larger than previous estimates.