Concentrations of Methane and Nitrous Oxide During Glacial and Inter-Glacial Periods: Analyses of the Vostok Core

已经确定，甲烷的浓度具有更多的 在过去的100-200年里增加了一倍多， 水平上升了约20%。 这些变化可能是 由于人类活动排放量的增加， 从大气层中去除 甲烷 两种气体浓度的增加会增加 全球变暖预计从二氧化碳浓度的增加。 在冰河时代和其他寒冷时期， 反映了世界上生物源的反应， 生态系统 随着未来地球变暖，这些生态系统 可能会向大气中排放越来越多的CH 4和N2 O， 对这些气体的循环产生正反馈， 世界的气候。 该计划有3个组成部分：1。 回收 来自东方站的冰芯样品; 2. 的实验室分析 在15万年的时间里， 并辅以对其他可用岩心的分析。 预期结果是研究N_2O在不同季节变化的初步数据。 地球的加热和冷却以及更完整的数据 甲烷对气候变化的响应; 3.描绘出 数据，并评估浓度变化的原因 发生在冰河时期。 这些分析将提供 关于这些气体的源和汇如何应对 气候变化，并可能提供一个基础，了解什么是 可能会在未来发生。

It has been established that the concentration of methane has more than doubled over the past 100-200 years and that nitrous oxide levels have increased by some 20%. These changes are probably caused by increasing emissions from human activities and possibly from reduction in the capacity of the atmosphere to remove methane. Increased concentrations of both gases can add to the global warming expected from the increasing concentrations of CO2. Changes, during ice ages and other colder periods, probably reflect the response of the biogenic sources in the world's ecosystems. As the earth warms up in the future, these ecosystems may emit more and more CH4 and N2O into the atmosphere, causing a positive feedback on the cycles of these gases and hence on the world's climate. This program has 3 components: 1. recovery of ice core samples from Vostok Station; 2. laboratory analyses of ice samples to measure CH4 and N2O over the 150,000 years spanned by the core and supplemented by analyses of other available cores. The expected results are primary data on the changes of N2O during heating and cooling of the earth and more complete data on the response of CH4 to climatic changes; 3. delineate the patterns in the data and assess the causes of the changes of concentrations that occur during ice ages. These analyses will provide information on how the sources and sinks of these gases respond to climatic changes and may provide a basis for understanding what may occur in the future.