Wetlands at the Last Glacial Maximum: Distribution and methane emissions

The global distribution of potential wetlands and their methane (CH4) emissions at the present-day and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are estimated using a GCM simulation of LGM climate, a vegetation model, and simple algorithms for determining wetland area based on topography and soil moisture, and CH4 emissions based on ecosystem carbon turnover in wet soils. LGM wetland area was 15% larger than present, but CH4 emissions were 24% less. Extensive wetlands were simulated on the exposed continental shelves. The soil CH4 sink was simulated as 14 Tg now but