Study links hurricanes to higher death rates long after storms pass

U.S. tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, indirectly cause thousands of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm. Understanding why could help minimize future deaths from hazards fueled by climate change

Stanford University

New research reveals hurricanes and tropical storms in the United States cause a surge of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm hits.

Official government statistics record only the number of individuals killed during these storms, which are together called “tropical cyclones.” Usually, these direct deaths, which average 24 per storm in official estimates, occur through drowning or some other type of trauma. But the new analysis, published October 2 in Nature, reveals a larger, hidden death toll in hurricanes’ aftermath.

“In any given month, people are dying earlier than they would have if the storm hadn’t hit their community,” said senior study author Solomon Hsiang, a professor of environmental social sciences at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. “A big storm will hit, and there’s all these cascades of effects where cities are rebuilding or households are displaced or social networks are broken. These cascades have serious consequences for public health.”

Hsiang and lead study author Rachel Young estimate an average U.S. tropical cyclone indirectly causes 7,000 to 11,000 excess deaths. All told, they estimate tropical storms since 1930 have contributed to between 3.6 million and 5.2 million deaths in the U.S. – more than all deaths nationwide from motor vehicle accidents, infectious diseases, or battle deaths in wars during the same period. Official government statistics put the total death toll from these storms at about 10,000 people.

Hurricane impacts underestimated

The new estimates are based on statistical analysis of data from the 501 tropical cyclones that hit the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from 1930 to 2015, and mortality rates for various populations within each state just before and after each cyclone. The researchers expanded on ideas from a 2014 study from Hsiang showing that tropical cyclones slow economic growth for 15 years, and on a 2018 Harvard study finding that Hurricane Maria caused nearly 5,000 deaths in the three months after the storm hit Puerto Rico – nearly 70 times the official government count.

“When we started out, we thought that we might see a delayed effect of tropical cyclones on mortality maybe for six months or a year, similar to heat waves,” said Young, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Berkeley, where she began working on the study as a master’s student in Hsiang’s lab before he joined Stanford’s faculty in July 2024. The results show deaths due to hurricanes persist at much higher rates not only for months but years after floodwaters recede and public attention moves on.

Uneven health burdens

Young and Hsiang’s research is the first to suggest that hurricanes are an important driver for the distribution of overall mortality risk across the country. While the study finds that more than 3 in 100 deaths nationwide are related to tropical cyclones, the burden is far higher for certain groups, with Black individuals three times more likely to die after a hurricane than white individuals. This finding puts stark numbers to concerns that many Black communities have raised for years about unequal treatment and experiences they face after natural disasters.

The researchers estimate 25% of infant deaths and 15% of deaths among people aged 1 to 44 in the U.S. are related to tropical cyclones. For these groups, Young and Hsiang write, the added risk from tropical cyclones makes a big difference in overall mortality risk because the group starts from a low baseline mortality rate.

“These are infants born years after a tropical cyclone, so they couldn’t have even experienced the event themselves in utero,” Young said. “This points to a longer-term economic and maternal health story, where mothers might not have as many resources even years after a disaster than they would have in a world where they never experienced a tropical cyclone.”

Adapting in future hazard zones

The long, slow surge of cyclone-related deaths tends to be much higher in places that historically have experienced fewer hurricanes. “Because this long-run effect on mortality has never been documented before, nobody on the ground knew that they should be adapting for this and nobody in the medical community has planned a response,” Young said.

The study’s results could inform governmental and financial decisions around plans for adapting to climate change, building coastal climate resilience, and improving disaster management, as tropical cyclones are predicted to become more intense with climate change. “With climate change, we expect that tropical cyclones are going to potentially become more hazardous, more damaging, and they’re going to change who they hit,” said Young.

Toward solutions

Building on the Nature study, Hsiang’s Global Policy Laboratory at Stanford is now working to understand why tropical storms and hurricanes cause these deaths over 15 years. The research group integrates economics, data science, and social sciences to answer policy questions that are key to managing planetary resources, often related to impacts from climate change.

With mortality risk from hurricanes, the challenge is to disentangle the complex chains of events that follow a cyclone and can ultimately affect human health – and then evaluate possible interventions.

These events can be so separated from the initial hazard that even affected individuals and their families may not see the connection. For example, Hsiang and Young write, individuals might use retirement savings to repair property damage, reducing their ability to pay for future health care. Family members might move away, weakening support networks that could be critical for good health down the line. Public spending may shift to focus on immediate recovery needs, at the expense of investments that could otherwise promote long-run health.

“Some solutions might be as simple as communicating to families and governments that, a few years after you allocate money for recovery, maybe you want to think about additional savings for health care-related expenses, particularly for the elderly, communities of color, and mothers or expectant mothers,” Young said.

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Journal

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-024-07945-5 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Article Title

Mortality caused by tropical cyclones in the United States

Article Publication Date

2-Oct-2024

 

‘Cheeky’ discovery allows scientists to estimate your risk of dying using cells found in the mouth

New epigenetic clock based on easy-to-collect cheek cells accurately predicts mortality

Frontiers

We don’t all age at the same rate. But while some supercentenarians may age exceptionally slowly due to winning the genetics jackpot, a plethora of behavioral and lifestyle factors are known to speed up aging, including stress, poor sleep, poor nutrition, smoking, and alcohol. Since such environmental effects get imprinted on our genome in the form of epigenetic marks, it is possible to quantify molecular aging by characterizing the epigenome at prognostic genomic sites.

Over the past decade, scientists have developed several such ‘epigenetic clocks’, calibrated against chronological age and various lifestyle factors across large numbers of people. Most of these focused on DNA methylation in blood cells, which makes collection of samples onerous, as well as stressful for the patient. But earlier this year, scientists from the US developed a second-generation clock, called CheekAge, which is based on methylation data in easy-to-collect cells from inside the cheeks.

Now, in Frontiers in Aging, the team has shown for the first time that CheekAge can accurately predict the risk of mortality – and even if epigenetic data from another tissue is used as input.

“We also demonstrate that specific methylation sites are especially important for this correlation, revealing potential links between specific genes and processes and human mortality captured by our clock,” said Dr Maxim Shokhirev, the study’s first author and Head of Computational Biology and Data Science at the company Tally Health in New York.

CheekAge had been developed or ‘trained’ by correlating the fraction of methylation at approximately 200,000 sites with an overall score for health and lifestyle, reflecting presumed differences in physiological aging.

The biological clock is ticking

In the present study, Shokhirev and colleagues used statistical programming to see how well it predicted mortality from any cause in 1,513 women and men, born in 1921 and 1936 and followed throughout life by the Lothian Birth Cohorts (LBC) program of the University of Edinburgh. One of the LBC’s aims was to link differences in cognitive aging to lifestyle and psychosocial factors and biomedical, genetic, epigenetic, and brain imaging data. Every three years, the volunteers had their methylome in blood cells measured at approximately 450,000 DNA methylation sites. The last available methylation time point was used along with the mortality status to calculate CheekAge and its association with mortality risk. Data on mortality had been obtained from the Scottish National Health Service Central Register.

“[Our results show that] CheekAge is significantly associated with mortality in a longitudinal dataset and outcompetes first-generation clocks trained in datasets containing blood data,” concluded the authors.

Specifically, for every increase by a single standard deviation in CheekAge, the hazard ratio of all-cause mortality increased by 21%. This means that CheekAge is strongly associated with mortality risk in older adults.

“The fact that our epigenetic clock trained on cheek cells predicts mortality when measuring the methylome in blood cells suggests there are common mortality signals across tissues,” said Shokhirev.

“This implies that a simple, non-invasive cheek swab can be a valuable alternative for studying and tracking the biology of aging.”

Strongest predictors

The researchers looked at those methylation sites which were most strongly associated with mortality in greater detail. Genes located around or near these sites are potential candidates for impacting lifespan or the risk of age-related disease. For example, the gene PDZRN4, a possible tumor suppressor, and ALPK2, a gene implicated in cancer and heart health in animal models. Other genes that stood out had previously been implicated in the development of cancer, osteoporosis, inflammation, and metabolic syndrome.

“It would be intriguing to determine if genes like ALPK2 impact lifespan or health in animal models,” said Dr Adiv Johnson, the study’s last author and the Head of Scientific Affairs and Education at Tally Health.

“Future studies are also needed to identify what other associations besides all-cause mortality can be captured with CheekAge. For example, other possible associations might include the incidence of various age-related diseases or the duration of ‘healthspan’, the period of healthy life free of age-related chronic disease and disability.”

---

Journal

Frontiers in Aging

DOI

10.3389/fragi.2024.1460360 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

CheekAge, a next-generation epigenetic buccal clock, is predictive of mortality in human blood

Article Publication Date

1-Oct-2024

COI Statement

MNS, DJK, TLC, and AAJ are all current or former full-time employees of the company Tally Health and have no other conflicts of interest to declare. JC and SRC have no conflicts of interest to declare

 

Radon, even at levels below EPA guideline for mitigation, is linked to childhood leukemia

Oregon State University

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A study of more than 700 counties across multiple U.S. states found a link between childhood leukemia and levels of decaying radon gas, including those lower than the federal guideline for mitigation.

The findings are important because there are few established risk factors for cancer in children and the role of the environment has not been explored much, said Oregon State University’s Matthew Bozigar, who led the research.

Radon, a naturally occurring gas, is a product of the radioactive decay of uranium, which is present in certain rocks and soils. Upon escaping from the ground, radon itself decays and emits radioactive particles that can get within the body and collect in many tissues, where they can damage or destroy the cells’ DNA, which can cause cancer.

Odorless, tasteless and colorless, radon gas dilutes quickly in open air and is generally harmless before it decays, but indoors or in areas with poor air exchange, it can easily concentrate to dangerous levels and is recognized as a significant risk factor for lung cancer.

Radon, measured with small, passive detectors and mitigated through passive or active ventilation in basements and crawl spaces, has not been linked to other cancers, according to the World Health Organization. But in an 18-year statistical modeling study of 727 counties spread among 14 states, Bozigar and collaborators not only found a connection between childhood leukemia and radon, but at concentrations below the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended guideline for mitigation.

Becquerels per cubic meter is a unit for expressing the concentration of radioactive decay in a given volume of air. The EPA says no level of radon is safe and advises that mitigation efforts be taken when radon concentration reaches 148 becquerels per cubic meter; the study considered concentrations as low as half of that.

“This is the largest study of its kind in the U.S., but more robust research is necessary to confirm these findings on an individual level and inform decision-making about health risks from radon in this country and globally,” said Bozigar, an assistant professor in the OSU College of Health.

Leukemia, the most common cancer in children, affects the blood and bone marrow. About 3,000 new cases of childhood leukemia – defined in the study and by the National Institutes of Health as involving patients up to age 19 – are diagnosed in the United States each year, according to the NIH. The annual incidence rate is 4.8 cases per 100,000 children.

Boys are more likely to receive a leukemia diagnosis than girls, but the research suggests radon increases the likelihood of leukemia in both sexes.

“Our study design only allows us to identify statistical associations and to raise hypotheses, so studies that can better determine whether radon exposure causes childhood leukemia are needed,” Bozigar said.

Counties examined in this study were in the states of Washington, California, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico Iowa, Louisiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. The counties are those that during the study period reported their cancer data to the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registry, a program that collects and analyzes cancer information. Known as SEER, the registry is supported by the National Cancer Institute.

Collaborating with Bozigar were scientists from the National Cancer Institute, Harvard University and Imperial College London. The research, funded in part by the Environmental Protection Agency, was published in Science of the Total Environment.

For Bozigar, the research has its roots in personal experience. He grew up in Portland, which has pockets of high radon levels, and noticed what seemed to be a high incidence of cancer, particularly in younger age groups. There were multiple cancer diagnoses among his own family and friends.

“As an epidemiologist, I started considering possible environmental causes and connected with awesome collaborators who provided important data and other resources to enable innovative new analyses,” he said. “We are working on many different radon studies, and we are continuing to find harmful effects not limited to the lungs in adults. We will have more to share in the coming months and years as our studies are published.”

---

Journal

Science of The Total Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176288 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Domestic radon exposure and childhood cancer risk by site and sex in 727 counties in the United States, 2001–2018

Coral reef destruction a threat to human rights

A human rights-based approach to coral reef protection could ensure governments are held to account for safeguarding marine ecosystems.

University of Technology Sydney

 

image: 

Bajo village in Indonesia is reliant on healthy coral reefs for subsistence and way of life. 

view more 

Credit: Dr Emma Camp

A human rights-based approach to coral reef protection could ensure governments are held to account for safeguarding marine ecosystems and empower local and Indigenous communities to demand sustainable solutions and climate justice, a new study suggests.

An estimated one billion people rely on healthy coral reefs globally for food security, coastal protection and income from tourism and other services. If reefs and their ecosystems are lost, the impact on human health and economic wellbeing would be catastrophic.

Lead author, Dr Emma Camp from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), said the window of opportunity to conserve coral reefs is rapidly closing and despite numerous protective measures, coral reefs around the world continue to degrade.

“2024 marks the fourth global coral bleaching event impacting more than 50% of the world’s coral reefs, as well as other stressors such as pollution. This is an urgent reminder that the loss of coral ecosystems negatively impacts both humans and nonhumans,” said Dr Camp.

“Implementing coral reef conservation through a human rights-based approach will provide a practical path towards a much-needed transformation of local, national, and international governance, while also highlighting the human side of coral loss,” she said.

The article, Coral reef protection is fundamental to human rights, published in the journal Global Change Biology, is a cross-disciplinary collaboration with School of Law, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, University of Konstanz, and UTS experts in law and science.

In 2022 the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment was affirmed by the United Nations General Assembly. Human rights globally are under threat from intensifying climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.

Professor Christian Voolstra, a co-author and the elected President of the International Coral Reef Society said: “The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report stated with high confidence that even at 1.5 °C warming, a mark that we might have already missed, the majority of warm-water coral-dominated systems will be quasi non-existent.

“We consequently need to think differently about reef conservation and how we fast-track to try and protect these critical ecosystems for current and future generations."

“In other fields, applying a human-rights based approach to environmental protection has advanced both social and environmental conservation,” said co-author Dr Genevieve Wilkinson from UTS Law, a founder of the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Network.

“A rights-based approach embeds non-discrimination, empowerment and participation so that litigation is not the only available avenue for participation and empowerment of vulnerable rightsholders. States must be accountable to obligations to protect human rights and find just solutions.

“A human rights-based approach to coral reef protection is an important opportunity to expedite reef protection while simultaneously advancing climate justice for humans and non-humans,” said Dr Wilkinson.

The study highlights the 2022 decision in Billy v. Australia, which was the first successful climate litigation framed through the language of rights before this body.

“The case was submitted by a group of eight Torres Strait Islanders, and six of their children. It demonstrates how states’ failure to effectively address climate change can threaten the human rights of low-lying reef nation inhabitants who rely on healthy coral reefs to ensure their way of life.

“Coral bleaching and its damaging impact on crayfish habitats were specifically identified as a harmful climate change impact by the Human Rights Committee,” said Dr Wilkinson.

“The Committee determined that failure to implement adequate climate change adaptation measures by the Australian Government violated the Torres Strait Islander inhabitants’ rights to culture and to private and family life, contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” she said.

The triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution has been described by the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights as the greatest future challenge facing human rights globally.

---

Journal

Global Change Biology

DOI

10.1111/gcb.17512 

Method of Research

News article

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Coral reef protection is fundamental to human rights

Article Publication Date

27-Sep-2024

 

Maersk Narrows Seafarer Gender Gap With "Equal at Sea" Recruitment Drive

Courtesy Maersk

Published Sep 29, 2024 4:17 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

Maersk has reported significant progress in bridging the longstanding gender gap of its workforce. Through its Equal at Sea initiative in India, Maersk’s Indian female cadets have increased from 41 in 2021 to over 350 this year. Overall, the percentage of women cadets in this year’s intake went up to 45% in the nautical and engineering streams, significantly improving the diversity within Maersk’s seafarers population in India. In addition, this milestone has brought the company closer to its 2027 target of equal gender representation amongst its cadet intake.

Maersk launched the Equal at Sea initiative in 2022, targeting the Indian market. The primary objective is to achieve gender equality among Maersk’s seafarers and address historical underrepresentation of women in the maritime industry. A 2022 study by IMO and the Women’s International Shipping& Trading Association (WISTA) noted that women account for only 29 percent of the overall workforce in the general maritime industry. The number for women seafarers is even smaller, with just two percent of around two million seafarers worldwide being women. An update to this data is expected next year when IMO and WISTA publish the results of the 2024 Women in Maritime survey.

“Through our initiatives, we have successfully inspired more women in India to choose seafaring as a career. Getting to 45 percent has been a great team effort within Maersk and across the industry. Now is the time to keep the momentum and ensure that the women recruited are also retained in the fleet,” said Karan Kochhar, Head of Marine People, Asia, Maersk.

The success of the Equal at Sea program in India comes with a significant impact for Maersk’s global progress in improving gender diversity. The number of women seafarers in the Maersk fleet has more than doubled, from 295 in 2021 to over 650 in 2024. This has seen the percentage of women in Maersk’s global seafarer pool rise from 2.3 percent in 2022 to 5.5 percent in 2024.

 

UK Car Factories Gear Up for Electric Shift

By City A.M - Sep 27, 2024

• UK car production fell by 8.4% in August compared to the same month last year, with a total of 41,271 new cars leaving production lines.
• 
  
• The decline is attributed to a combination of factors, including summer shutdowns, factories preparing for new models (primarily electric), and a decrease in production of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid vehicles.
• 
  
• Despite the August slump, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) remains optimistic about a return to growth, citing record levels of investment and the anticipated launch of new electric models.

Car production fell last month, continuing a trend seen across the year, new figures show.

The number of cars built in UK factories was 8.4 per cent lower in August compared to the same month last year.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 41,271 new cars left production lines, 3,781 fewer than last August.

The trade body said the decline continues this year’s trend as factories wind down production of key models and prepare for new, mainly electric models.

Battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid production for the month fell by 25 per cent but the SMMT said the decline is expected to be reversed as new models come onstream.

Production for the domestic market fell by almost 20% while exports were down by 5.9%.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “With the traditional summer shutdowns and factories prepping to switch to new models, August was always going to be a quieter month for output.

“The sector remains optimistic about a return to growth, however, with record levels of investment announced last year.

“Realising those investments and securing more depends on the UK industry maintaining its competitiveness so we look forward both to the Chancellor’s autumn budget and the Government’s proposed Industrial Strategy as critical opportunities to demonstrate that it backs auto.”

By City AM 

 

Afghanistan's Taliban Government Aims for BRICS Membership

By ZeroHedge - Sep 27, 2024

• The Taliban government in Afghanistan has expressed interest in joining the BRICS economic bloc, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
• 
  
• China and Russia have maintained close ties with the Taliban, hosting delegations and maintaining embassies in Kabul.
• 
  
• The Taliban's inclusion in BRICS could be controversial, given its lack of formal recognition and the potential for it to be used to criticize the bloc on the world stage.
• 
  

Despite not being formally recognized by any country, the Taliban government of Afghanistan is now seeking to join the BRICS economic forum.

"Countries with major resources and the world's biggest economies are associated with the BRICS forum, especially Russia, India, and China," the Taliban government's deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said.

"Currently, we have good economic ties and commercial exchanges with them. We are keen to expand our relations and participate in the economic forums of the BRICS," he said.

While the Taliban government has not been formally recognized, China and Russia have come close - given they have both hosted Taliban delegations for talks, and they maintain embassies in Kabul even after the US-NATO pullout of August 2021.

The Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has further said it hopes to be invited to the BRICS summit to be held on October 22-24 in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan, but that there's "no information so far" on whether the Taliban can attend.

BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and has recently inducted new members Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia.

China and Russia have remained the two major regional Asian powers who show willingness to invest in Afghanistan, and potentially tap its significant natural resources. Both have also welcomed the Taliban's fight against rival extremist terror group, the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K).

But the Afghan Taliban's formal inclusion in BRICS might prove an embarrassment for the bloc at a moment it is presenting itself as a counterbalance to the unipolar tendencies of the United States.

Many regional countries have on a de facto level recognized the Taliban's rule over Afghanistan, but have not extended full diplomatic relations in an official capacity.

Source: RFERL

The Taliban in BRICS would present Washington with 'low-hanging fruit' which could be used to denigrate BRICS on a world stage - especially in light of US anger at growing China, Russia, India cooperation and these countries' refusal to condemn Russian military action in Ukraine.

By Zerohedge.com 

DRILL BABY DRILL

Oil and Gas Boom Fuels U.S. Methane Surge

By Felicity Bradstock - Sep 27, 2024

• U.S. methane emissions are rising, driven by increased oil and gas production, despite federal initiatives to curb them.
• 
  
• A Stanford study reveals that methane emissions from U.S. oil and gas facilities are likely three times higher than government estimates.
• 
  
• The EPA and DoE are investing millions in projects to monitor, measure, and reduce methane emissions, while new regulations aim to address leaks and waste.
• 
  

Despite ambitious promises of an accelerated green transition from the government, the U.S. is still experiencing extremely elevated levels of methane emissions each year. As the Biden administration pumps billions into renewable energy, clean technologies, and decarbonisation projects, methane emissions continue to rise year on year with no sign of a reduction any time soon. Methane traps more heat in the atmosphere per molecule than carbon dioxide, which makes it 80 times more harmful than CO2 for 20 years after it is released. The UNEP suggests that cutting methane emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 could help us meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. 

Since 2021, 158 countries have agreed to the Global Methane Pledge, led by the U.S. and EU. It states that these countries must cut methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 by 2030. However, recent satellite imagery showed that methane emissions from nine fossil fuel basins had increased by 7 percent compared to 2020 levels. The U.S. is one of the worst performers when it comes to methane emissions, owing largely to a massive increase in oil and gas production in the post-pandemic era. It continues to be the world’s third-largest methane emitter after China and India. 

In previous years, the U.S. government has relied heavily on the oil and gas industry to clean up its act. While the U.S. fossil fuel industry emits less methane per unit of energy than in the past, the massive surge in oil and gas production means that the U.S. is producing more methane than before. Oil and natural gas facilities are now the country’s largest industrial source of methane. 

In recent years, the Biden administration has put greater pressure on oil majors to clean up operations by identifying and plugging leaks, improving maintenance activities and bringing an end to gas flaring practices. This has been supported by millions in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other federal schemes. Unlike carbon emissions, which are produced from burning fossil fuels, methane is released during the production and transportation of gas. The U.S. continues to experience a massive methane problem, with thousands of abandoned wells that have yet to be plugged, and leaks along transportation networks. 

One of the biggest issues is the failure of the government to accurately measure the extent of the U.S. methane problem. Stanford-led research suggests that the methane emissions from a large share of U.S. oil and gas facilities are three times higher on average than those stated by official government estimates. Oil and gas operations across the country emit over 6 million tons of methane a year. The high levels of methane emissions mainly come from international gas venting and unintentional leaks. It costs oil and gas producers around $1 billion a year in lost commercial value and around $10 billion when harm to the economy and human well-being are considered, according to the researchers. 

The Stanford report analyses around one million aerial measurements of U.S. wells, pipelines, storage, and transmission facilities in six of the country’s most productive regions, including the Permian and Forth Worth in Texas and New Mexico; California’s San Joaquin basin; Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg basin; Pennsylvania’s section of the Appalachian basin; and Utah’s Uinta basin. These regions account for 52 percent of U.S. onshore oil production and 29 percent of gas production. The results show that methane levels are likely three times higher than the current government predictions. 

The senior author of the study, Adam Brandt, explained, “Costs aside, the main message here is that some regions show emissions at rates well above those the government itself uses to estimate methane losses.” Brandt added, “We hope this will spur government methane inventories toward greater incorporation of remote sensing data at the heart of those estimates.”

The U.S. government is working rapidly to drive methane levels down in the coming years. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aims to implement a legislated fee on methane emissions that exceed a certain performance standard. The EPA is also finalising several new regulatory provisions, which include expanded leak detection and repair, and more consistent use of the latest mitigation technology. In addition, the Bureau of Land Management launched its methane regime, which introduced royalty payments for methane waste on federal land. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is also introducing new rules to reduce methane loss from pipelines.

In June this year, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) and the EPA announced $850 million in funding for projects that will help monitor, measure, quantify, and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector as part of the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda. This follows several federal initiatives aimed at reducing methane levels, with agencies taking almost 100 actions in 2023 alone.

The EPA Administrator, Michael Regan, stated, “Today, we’re building on strong standards and historic progress to cut methane pollution and protect communities across the country.” Regan added, “These investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda will drive the deployment of available and advanced technologies to better understand where methane emissions are coming from. That will help us more effectively reduce harmful pollution, tackle the climate crisis, and create good-paying jobs.”

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com