[Vision2020] Global Warming, etc.

[heirdoug at netscape.net]

Global production of methane by termites
R. A. Rasmussen & M. A. K. Khalil

Department of Environmental Science, Oregon Graduate Center, 19600 N.W. 
Walker Road, Beaverton, Oregon 97006, USA

Widespread destruction of forests and their replacement by grasslands 
may provide suitable habitats for termites, leading to an increase in 
their population and thus also in the production of methane1. We have 
carried out an experiment to verify the role of termites in the global 
methane cycle and to identify the uncertainties inherent in such global 
extrapolations of laboratory data. We found that termites are indeed a 
potentially significant source of atmospheric methane with an estimated 
global prodution of about 50  1012 g yr-1; however, the uncertainties 
in global estimates are so large (10−100  1012 g yr-1) that it cannot 
yet be proved that termites play an important role in the global 
methane cycle. Our calculations show that the production of CH4 by 
termites is probably <15% of the global yearly emissions.

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