North American terrestrial CO₂ uptake largely offset by CH₄ and N₂O emissions: toward a full accounting of the greenhouse gas budget

The terrestrial ecosystems of North America have been identified as a sink of atmospheric CO₂ though there is no consensus on the magnitude. However, the emissions of non-CO₂ greenhouse gases (CH₄ and N₂O) may offset or even overturn the climate cooling effect induced by the CO₂ sink. Using a coupled biogeochemical model, in this study, we have estimated the combined global warming potentials (GWP) of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O fluxes in North American terrestrial ecosystems and quantified the relative contributions of environmental factors to the GWP changes during 1979–2010. The uncertainty range for contemporary global warming potential has been quantified by synthesizing the existing estimates from inventory, forward modeling, and inverse modeling approaches. Our “best estimate” of net GWP for CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O fluxes was −0.50 ± 0.27 Pg CO₂ eq/year (1 Pg = 10¹⁵ g) in North American terrestrial ecosystems during 2001–2010. The emissions of CH₄ and N₂O from terrestrial ecosystems had offset about two thirds (73 %±14 %) of the land CO₂ sink in the North American continent, showing large differences across the three countries, with offset ratios of 57 % ± 8 % in US, 83 % ± 17 % in Canada and 329 % ± 119 % in Mexico. Climate change and elevated tropospheric ozone concentration have contributed the most to GWP increase, while elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration have contributed the most to GWP reduction. Extreme drought events over certain periods could result in a positive GWP. By integrating the existing estimates, we have found a wide range of uncertainty for the combined GWP. From both climate change science and policy perspectives, it is necessary to integrate ground and satellite observations with models for a more accurate accounting of these three greenhouse gases in North America.