Seasonal Production and Emission of Methane from Rice Fields, Final Report

B 139 - Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas regarded second only to carbon dioxide in its ability to cause global warming. Methane is important because of its relatively fast increase, and also because it is, per molecule, some 60 times more effective than carbon dioxide in causing global warming. The largest present anthropogenic sources of methane are rice fields, cattle and biomass burning. The global emissions from these sources are still not well known. In the middle 1980s there were few available data on methane emissions from rice fields leading to estimates of a global source between 100-280 Tg/yr. Extensive worldwide research during the last decade has shown that the global emissions from rice fields are more likely to be in the range of 30-80Tg/yr. While this work has led to a substantial reduction in the estimated emissions, the uncertainty is still quite large, and seriously affects our ability to include methane in integrated assessments for future climate change and environmental management.China dominated estimates of methane emissions from rice fields because it was, and is, the largest producer of rice, and major increases in rice production had taken place in the country over the last several decades. This report summarizes the work in Sichuan Province, China, in each of the following areas: the design of the experiment; the main results on methane emissions from rice fields, delineating the factors controlling emissions; production of methane in the soil; a survey of water management practices in sample of counties in Sichuan province; and results of ambient measurements including data from the background continental site. B13