New CFC-11 emissions identified from China

In a new study in Nature, we show that emissions of the banned ozone depleting substance, CFC-11, have increased from eastern China since 2013. Our findings, based on analysis of data from the South Korean AGAGE station at Gosan and Japanese NIES station on Hateruma island, suggests that we have located a major fraction of the global emissions rise identified last year.

The implications of this finding are discussed in our article written for The Conversation, and a University of Bristol news item.

Simulated transport of CFC-11 to the Gosan (square) and Hateruma (circle) measurement stations for a day in December 2014. The coloured areas show regions where the measured concentrations would be strongly influenced by emissions sources. This information, from the Met Office NAME model, helped us identify new emissions coming from eastern China.