Trend and seasonal variations of atmospheric CH4 in Beijing

The atmospheric CH4 in Beijing is still increasing, even though its increasing rate has significantly decreased from 1.76 ％/a during 1985-1989 to 0.50 ％/a during 1990-1997. The seasonal variation of CH4 concentration showed a double-peak pattern, one peak appearing in winter and the other in summer. It is evident that the annually seasonal variations of atmospheric CH₄ in Beijing are different. From 1986 to 1997, the atmospheric CH₄ increased by 185 ppbv, 37％ and 21％ of which were due to the increase in winter and in summer, respectively. After 1993, the annually seasonal increasing rate of CH4 concentration in summer (due to emission from biogenic sources) is negative while the increasing rate in winter (due to emission from non-biogenic sources) is positive about 25 ppbv/a. As a result, the increase of CH₄ emission from non-biogenic sources in winter is the major reason that caused theannually seasonal increasing rate from 1993 to 1997. The biogenic sources in Beijing are shrinking while the non-biogenic ones (such as fossil fuel combustion) are enlarging.