Global methane and nitrous oxide emissions from inland waters and estuaries.

Inland waters (rivers, reservoirs, lakes, ponds, streams) and estuaries are significant emitters of methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) to the atmosphere, while global estimates of these emissions have been hampered due to the lack of a worldwide comprehensive data set of CH 4 and N 2 O flux components. Here, we synthesize 2997 in-situ flux or concentration measurements of CH 4 and N 2 O from 277 peer-reviewed publications to estimate global CH 4 and N 2 O emissions from inland waters and estuaries. Inland waters including rivers, reservoirs, lakes, and streams together release 95.18 Tg CH 4  year -1 (ebullition plus diffusion) and 1.48 Tg N 2 O year -1 (diffusion) to the atmosphere, yielding an overall CO 2 -equivalent emission total of 3.06 Pg CO 2  year -1 . The estimate of CH 4 and N 2 O emissions represents roughly 60% of CO 2 emissions (5.13 Pg CO 2  year -1 ) from these four inland aquatic systems, among which lakes act as the largest emitter for both CH 4 and N 2 O. Ebullition showed as a dominant flux component of CH 4 , contributing up to 62%-84% of total CH 4 fluxes across all inland waters. Chamber-derived CH 4 emission rates are significantly greater than those determined by diffusion model-based methods for commonly capturing of both diffusive and ebullitive fluxes. Water dissolved oxygen (DO) showed as a dominant factor among all variables to influence both CH 4 (diffusive and ebullitive) and N 2 O fluxes from inland waters. Our study reveals a major oversight in regional and global CH 4 budgets from inland waters, caused by neglecting the dominant role of ebullition pathways in those emissions. The estimated indirect N 2 O EF 5 values suggest that a downward refinement is required in current IPCC default EF 5 values for inland waters and estuaries. Our findings further indicate that a comprehensive understanding of the magnitude and patterns of CH 4 and N 2 O emissions from inland waters and estuaries is essential in defining the way of how these aquatic systems will shape our climate.