Photo credit: Copernicus/Kayrros
Despite the pandemic, 2020 saw the biggest one-year jump in atmospheric methane concentrations on record. Nearly half of the roughly 380 million metric tons of methane released by human activities annually could be cut this decade with available and largely cost-effective methods. That would stave off nearly 0.3C of warming by the 2040s. The easiest gains can be made by fixing leaky pipelines, stopping deliberate releases like venting unwanted gas from drilling rigs, and other oil and gas industry actions. Capturing fumes from rotting materials in landfills and squelching the gassy belches of ruminant livestock will help too. Methane-hunting satellites now track releases around the world and report them. That’s great but we’re still moving in the wrong direction. Emissions have been surging over the past half-decade.
www.bbc.com/future/article/20210805-the-search-for-the-worlds-largest-methane-sources