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Source Attribution

This category encompasses research aimed at identifying the relative contribution of different sectors, activities, and entities to global climate change. It includes research on the respective contributions of national governments and private corporations to increases in global greenhouse gas concentrations (through both emissions and land use changes). It also includes research on the respective obligations of different entities to mitigate their contributions to climate change.

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Revealed: The 1,200 Big Methane Leaks from Waste Dumps Trashing the Planet

February 2024
Damian Carrington, Seán Clarke
The Guardian
This investigative reporting project from The Guardian used satellite image analysis from the company Kayrros, documented a total of 1,256 methane "super-emitter" events between January 2019 and June 2023, linked to large landfills across the globe.Read More →

African Rice Cultivation Linked to Rising Methane

January 2024
Zichong Chen, Nicholas Balasus, Haipeng Lin, Hannah Nesser, Daniel J. Jacob
Nature Climate Change
In this peer-reviewed article, the authors assess methane emissions from rapidly increasing rice cultivation in Africa. The authors estimate that this source accounts for 7% of the current global rise in methane can be attributed to this source.Read More →

Climate warming and elevated CO2 alter peatland soil carbon sources and stability

November 2023
Nicholas O. E. Ofiti, Michael W. I. Schmidt, Samuel Abiven, Paul J. Hanson, Colleen M. Iversen, Rachel M. Wilson, Joel E. Kostka, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Avni Malhotra
Nature Communications
This peer-reviewed study examines the impact of warming and elevated atmospheric CO2 on the molecular composition of soil organic carbon. The authors' results indicate that climate change may destabilize carbon storage in peatlands.Read More →

Extratropical forests increasingly at risk due to lightning fires

November 2023
Thomas A. J. Janssen, Matthew W. Jones, Declan Finney, Guido R. van der Werf, Dave van Wees, Wenxuan Xu, Sander Veraverbeke
Nature Geoscience
In this peer-reviewed study, the authors examine fire ignition, and show that 77% of the burned area in extratropical forests stems from lightning. These areas are expected to experience between 11 and 31% more lightning per degree of warming.Read More →

Mercury and CO2 emissions from artisanal gold mining in Brazilian Amazon rainforest

November 2023
Benjamin Fritz, Bernhard Peregovich, Lorena da Silva Tenório, Adria Cristina da Silva Alves, Mario Schmidt
Nature Sustainability
In this peer-reviewed study, the authors investigate the use of mercury and energy at artisanal gold mining sites in Brazil, and assesses the mercury and CO2 emissions associated with this sector of the informal economy.Read More →

Coastal surface soil carbon stocks have distinctly increased under extensive ecological restoration in northern China

October 2023
Yuan Chi, Dahai Liu, Jianhua Gao, Jingkuan Sun, Zhiwei Zhang, Wenxiu Xing, Yubing Qu, Xuejian Ma, Bian Zha
Nature Communications Earth & Environment
This peer-reviewed study maps the surface soil organic carbon stock in northern China's coastal areas, and finds that extensive ecological restoration increased the surface carbon stock and density by 39.19% between 2010 and 2020.Read More →

Sensitivity of arctic CH₄ emissions to landscape wetness diminished by atmospheric feedbacks

July 2023
Philipp de Vrese, Lutz Beckebanze, Leonardo de Aro Galera, Thomas Kleinen, Lars Kutzbach, Zoé Rehder, and Victor Brovkin
Nature Climate Change
This peer-reviewed study uses climate modeling to show that atmospheric feedbacks may accelerate increases in methane emissions from arctic permafrost due to thaw-induced drying of permafrost landscapes.Read More →

Built structures influence patterns of energy demand and CO₂ emissions across countries

July 2023
Helmut Haberl, Markus Löw, Alejandro Perez-Laborda, Sarah Matej, Barbara Plank, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Felix Creutzig, Karl-Heinz Erb, and Juan Antonio Duro
Nature Communications
This peer-reviewed study uses statistical analysis to analyze the correlation between patterns of settlement and transportation infrastructures on per-capita energy demand and CO₂ emissions at the national level.Read More →

Changes in global food consumption increase GHG emissions despite efficiency gains along global supply chains

June 2023
Yanxian Li, Honglin Zhong, Yuli Shan, Ye Hang, Dan Wang, Yannan Zhou, and Klaus Hubacek
Nature Food
This peer-reviewed article uses trade and emissions intensity data to attribute fluctuations in consumption-based emissions of food to factors such as trade structure, per capita consumption, and emissions intensity of food products. Read More →

Wildfire and degradation accelerate northern peatland carbon release

April 2023
S. L. Wilkinson, R. Andersen, P. A. Moore, S. J. Davidson, G. Granath, J. M. Waddington
Nature Scientific Reports
This peer-reviewed study examines the net carbon sink and methan emissions of northern peatlands, and assess the impact of climate change and wildfires on this function.Read More →

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