Work

Airborne Measurements Suggest That Halocarbon Emissions from the New York City Urban Region Have Comparable Climate Impacts to Its Methane Emissions

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Urban centers concentrate high usage of halocarbons largely for refrigeration, air conditioning (A/C), heat pumps, and fire suppression. Loss of these gases to the atmosphere has a large climate impact. Here, we quantify halocarbon emissions from the New York City region during the East Coast Outflow airborne campaigns in 2018 and 2020. We quantify urban-scale emissions using discrete airborne flask samples collected during downwind plume sampling. We find that inventories of the urban region underestimate halocarbon emissions. For A/C species, higher emissions in 2018 correspond with higher temperatures, suggesting emissions may vary with appliance usage. The climate impact (100-year time horizon) of our observed halocarbon emissions is comparable to coincident methane emissions, equal to ∼10% of urban CO 2 emissions. Without leakage mitigation and effective phase-down efforts, high halocarbon emissions could undercut the benefits of switching to heat pumps and present a positive warming feedback with increasing air conditioning demand.

Source: Environmental Science & Technology

DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5c12757

Authors: Genevieve Plant, Eric A. Kort, Isaac Vimont, Colm Sweeney

Institutions: University of Michigan, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory

Language: English

Topic: Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,500