Humans are a bigger source of climate-altering methane, new studies suggest
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/only-humans-can-create-climate-altering-methane-burns-new-studies-suggest
Source: By Warren Cornwall, Science Magazine.
Excerpt: When it comes to forecasting global warming, methane is an unpredictable, menacing figure. The greenhouse gas is 28 times more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 100-year span. And as the planet warms, scientists fear vast stores of the gas will be released from Arctic permafrost and the deep ocean, warming the planet even further. Evidence from two new studies offers hope: First, a swift release of massive quantities of ancient methane is unlikely. Second, humans seem to be a bigger source of modern methane emissions than previously thought—meaning people have more control over how much winds up in the atmosphere. “It’s generally encouraging news,” says Michael Dyonisius, a geochemist and graduate student at the University of Rochester (U of R) who led the study of ancient methane. ...The methane molecules in older fossil fuel sources contain almost no carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon created by cosmic ray bombardment. ...data reveal that levels of carbon-14–depleted methane were much lower in the 1870s. That means modern geologic sources of methane are much smaller than previously estimated, and that the big jump came from humans, they report this week in Nature [https://nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1991-8].... See also: New York Times article - Oil and Gas May Be a Far Bigger Climate Threat Than We Knew [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/climate/methane-flaring-oil-emissions.html]
Source: By Warren Cornwall, Science Magazine.
Excerpt: When it comes to forecasting global warming, methane is an unpredictable, menacing figure. The greenhouse gas is 28 times more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 100-year span. And as the planet warms, scientists fear vast stores of the gas will be released from Arctic permafrost and the deep ocean, warming the planet even further. Evidence from two new studies offers hope: First, a swift release of massive quantities of ancient methane is unlikely. Second, humans seem to be a bigger source of modern methane emissions than previously thought—meaning people have more control over how much winds up in the atmosphere. “It’s generally encouraging news,” says Michael Dyonisius, a geochemist and graduate student at the University of Rochester (U of R) who led the study of ancient methane. ...The methane molecules in older fossil fuel sources contain almost no carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon created by cosmic ray bombardment. ...data reveal that levels of carbon-14–depleted methane were much lower in the 1870s. That means modern geologic sources of methane are much smaller than previously estimated, and that the big jump came from humans, they report this week in Nature [https://nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1991-8].... See also: New York Times article - Oil and Gas May Be a Far Bigger Climate Threat Than We Knew [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/climate/methane-flaring-oil-emissions.html]