Increase in HFC-134a emissions in response to the success of the Montreal Protocol

A. Fortems-Cheiney (1) , M. Saunois (1, 2) , I. Pison (1, 3) , F. Chevallier (1, 2) , Philippe Bousquet (1, 2) , C. Cressot (1) , S. Montzka (4) , P. Fraser (5) , M. Vollmer , P. Simmonds (6) , D. Young , S. O'Doherty (7) , R. Weiss , F. Artuso , B. Barletta , R. Blake , S. Li , C. Lunder (8) , R. Miller , S. Park , R. Prinn (9) , T. Saito (10) , L. Steele , Y. Yokouchi (11)

1 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
2 SATINV - Modélisation INVerse pour les mesures atmosphériques et SATellitaires
3 ICOS-RAMCES - ICOS-RAMCES
4 ESRL - NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
5 CSIRO - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [Canberra]
6 International Science Consultants
7 School of Chemistry
8 NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research
9 MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
10 CERMAV - Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales
11 NIES - National Institute for Environmental Studies

The 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a), an important alternative to CFC-12 in accordance with the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, is a high global warming potential greenhouse gas. Here we evaluate variations in global and regional HFC-134a emissions and emission trends, from 1995 to 2010, at a relatively high spatial and temporal (3.75°in longitude × 2.5°in latitude and 8 day) resolution, using surface HFC-134a measurements. Our results show a progressive increase of global HFC-134a emissions from 19 ± 2 Gg/yr in 1995 to 167 ± 5 Gg/yr in 2010, with both a slowdown in developed countries and a 20%/yr increase in China since 2005. A seasonal cycle is also seen since 2002, which becomes enhanced over time, with larger values during the boreal summer.

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère; Interfaces continentales, environnement

A. Fortems-Cheiney, M. Saunois, I. Pison, F. Chevallier, Philippe Bousquet, et al.. Increase in HFC-134a emissions in response to the success of the Montreal Protocol. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2015, 120 (22), pp.11,728 - 11,742. ⟨10.1002/2015JD023741⟩. ⟨hal-01805195⟩