The Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Fossil-Fuel Use in North America

• Published in: Journal of applied meteorology and climatology 2009-12, Vol.48 (12), p.2528-2542
• Main Authors: Gregg, J. S., Losey, L. M., Andres, R. J., Blasing, T. J., Marland, G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AMPLITUDES; Anthropogenic factors; CARBON; CARBON CYCLE; CARBON DIOXIDE; Carbon dioxide emissions; Carbon emissions; Climate change; Coal; Datasets; Distribution; Earth, ocean, space; Electricity distribution; EMISSION; Emissions; Energy consumption; ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; Environmental protection; Estimates; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; FOSSIL FUELS; Fossils; Fuel combustion; Fuel consumption; Fuels; Human influences; Inventory; LAND USE; Meteorology; Monthly; Natural gas distribution; NORTH AMERICA; Petroleum; Pollutant emissions; Population density; RESOLUTION; Seasonal variations; SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION; Spatial variability; Spatial variations; Temporal resolution
• ISSN: 1558-8424; 1558-8432
• DOI: 10.1175/2009JAMC2115.1

Refinements in the spatial and temporal resolution of North American fossil-fuel carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions provide additional information about anthropogenic aspects of the carbon cycle. In North America, the seasonal and spatial patterns are a distinctive component to characterizing anthropogenic carbon emissions. The pattern of fossil-fuel-based CO₂ emissions on a monthly scale has greater temporal and spatial variability than the flux aggregated to the national annual level. For some areas, monthly emissions can vary by as much as 85% for some fuels when compared with monthly estimates based on a uniform temporal and spatial distribution. The United States accounts for the majority of North American fossil carbon emissions, and the amplitude of the seasonal flux in emissions in the United States is greater than the total mean monthly emissions in both Canada and Mexico. Nevertheless, Canada and Mexico have distinctive seasonal patterns as well. For the continent, emissions were aggregated on a 5° × 10° latitude–longitude grid. The monthly pattern of emissions varies on both a north–south and east–west gradient and evolves through the time period analyzed (1990–2007). For many areas in North America, the magnitude of the month-to-month variation is larger than the total annual emissions from land use change, making the characterization of emissions patterns essential to understanding humanity's influence on the carbon cycle.