Abstract
The ∼1%/year increase in tropospheric methane and ∼2%/year increase in tropospheric carbon monoxide deduced from recent analyses of ground-based solar infrared spectra recorded in 1950 and 1951 have very important implications for the photochemistry and chemistry of the troposphere. Photochemical calculations indicate that as a result of the increase of methane and carbon monoxide since 1950–51, levels of the hydroxyl radical, the key species in the photochemistry of the troposphere, may have decreased by about 25%.
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Levine, J., Rinsland, C. & Tennille, G. The photochemistry of methane and carbon monoxide in the troposphere in 1950 and 1985. Nature 318, 254–257 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/318254a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/318254a0
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