By AFP
September 10, 2024
Livestock farming is a major source of methane, along with energy generation and landfills - Copyright AFP NHAC NGUYEN
Concentrations in the atmosphere of the powerful greenhouse gas methane are rising at an accelerating pace, threatening efforts by countries to meet their climate targets, researchers warned on Tuesday.
“Methane is rising faster in relative terms than any major greenhouse gas and is now 2.6-fold higher than in pre-industrial times,” said an international group of researchers under the aegis of the Global Carbon Project in a study published in Environmental Research Letters.
Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas produced by human activity after carbon dioxide, with agriculture, energy production and organic waste rotting in landfills the major sources.
In the first 20 years, its impact on the atmosphere is about 80 times more powerful that of carbon dioxide but it breaks down more quickly than CO2.
That opens a possibility to sharply reduce climate impact in the short term. But the researchers found that despite efforts to cut methane emissions, atmospheric concentrations of the gas are still rising.
– Rising in most countries –
An average of 6.1 million tonnes of methane were added to atmosphere per year in the 2000s.
That rose to 20.9 million tonnes per year in the 2010s. It hit 41.8 million tonnes in 2020.
“Anthropogenic (human-made) emissions have continued to increase in almost every other country in the world, with the exception of Europe and Australia, which show a slow declining trend,” Global Carbon Project executive director Pep Canadell, one of the study’s co-authors, told AFP.
The largest increases have come from China and southeast Asia and have been primarily linked to coal extraction, oil and gas production and landfills, the researchers found.
The La Nina weather phenomenon has also led to an increase in methane from natural sources, they said.
A drop in nitrogen oxides pollution in 2020, when use of transport plunged due to the Covid-19 pandemic, had a paradoxical impact. It is key in preventing methane from accumulating in the atmosphere.
– ‘Mirage’ –
Rising methane pollution is undermining efforts to keep the Earth’s average temperature from rising by more than 2.0 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
A “Global Methane Pledge” was launched in 2021 by the European Union and United States to cut global methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 levels, by the cutoff date of 2030.
More than 150 countries have signed up — but not China, India or Russia.
“Right now, the goals of the Global Methane Pledge seem as distant as a desert oasis,” said lead author of the Environmental Research Letters paper, Stanford University scientist Rob Jackson.
“We all hope they aren’t a mirage.”
China and the United States are preparing to host a summit on greenhouse gasses other than CO2 later this year, potentially raising the prospect of further pledges by governments.
Researchers warn methane emissions ‘rising faster than ever’
The largest increases in emissions of the greenhouse gas come from China and Southeast Asia.
Rising methane pollution undermines efforts to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F), the study warns
Global pledges ‘a mirage’?
The recent spike in emissions of the gas comes despite the “Global Methane Pledge“, which saw 150 countries commit to work towards cutting 2020 global emissions levels by 30 percent by 2030.
The goals of the pledge, notably not signed by China, Russia or India, “seem as distant as a desert oasis”, said Rob Jackson from Stanford University, the lead author of the study, which appeared in Environmental Research Letters. “We all hope they aren’t a mirage.”
Despite failing to sign the 2021 pledge, China plans to host a joint summit with the United States on greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide later this year at the United Nations climate change conference, raising hopes of broader climate action.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
The largest increases in emissions of the greenhouse gas come from China and Southeast Asia.
A projection on the facade of the headquarters of Swiss food giant Nestle during a protest by climate activists over the results of the company's methane pledges, in Vevey, Switzerland, April 19, 2023 [Fabrice Coffrini/AFP]
AL JAZEERA
Published On 10 Sep 2024
Concentrations of methane are rising at an unprecedented pace, jeopardising global climate goals, according to researchers.
The potent greenhouse gas, the second-largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide, has increased by 20 percent over the past two decades despite global efforts to curb it, according to a study published by the Global Carbon Project.
In the past five years, methane concentrations have surged faster than “in any period since record-keeping began”, the study said. Increases are being primarily driven by coal mining, oil and gas production and use, cattle and sheep ranching, and decomposing food and organic waste.
In 2020, 41.8 million tonnes of methane entered the atmosphere, double the average amount added yearly in the 2010s, and over six times the average in the previous decade.
“Anthropogenic emissions have continued to increase in almost every other country in the world, with the exception of Europe and Australia, which show a slow declining trend,” Global Carbon Project’s executive director, Pep Canadell, told the AFP news agency.
The largest increases have come from China and Southeast Asia and are primarily linked to coal extraction, oil and gas production and landfills, the researchers found.
Concentrations of methane are rising at an unprecedented pace, jeopardising global climate goals, according to researchers.
The potent greenhouse gas, the second-largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide, has increased by 20 percent over the past two decades despite global efforts to curb it, according to a study published by the Global Carbon Project.
In the past five years, methane concentrations have surged faster than “in any period since record-keeping began”, the study said. Increases are being primarily driven by coal mining, oil and gas production and use, cattle and sheep ranching, and decomposing food and organic waste.
In 2020, 41.8 million tonnes of methane entered the atmosphere, double the average amount added yearly in the 2010s, and over six times the average in the previous decade.
“Anthropogenic emissions have continued to increase in almost every other country in the world, with the exception of Europe and Australia, which show a slow declining trend,” Global Carbon Project’s executive director, Pep Canadell, told the AFP news agency.
The largest increases have come from China and Southeast Asia and are primarily linked to coal extraction, oil and gas production and landfills, the researchers found.
Rising methane pollution undermines efforts to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F), the study warns
.
Rice, Asia’s principal staple, causes 10 percent of global methane emissions [Nhac Hguyen/AFP]
Global pledges ‘a mirage’?
The recent spike in emissions of the gas comes despite the “Global Methane Pledge“, which saw 150 countries commit to work towards cutting 2020 global emissions levels by 30 percent by 2030.
The goals of the pledge, notably not signed by China, Russia or India, “seem as distant as a desert oasis”, said Rob Jackson from Stanford University, the lead author of the study, which appeared in Environmental Research Letters. “We all hope they aren’t a mirage.”
Despite failing to sign the 2021 pledge, China plans to host a joint summit with the United States on greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide later this year at the United Nations climate change conference, raising hopes of broader climate action.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
Pollution of the potent warming gas methane soars and people are mostly to blame
A new study says the amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, and it's helping to turbocharge climate change
BySETH BORENSTEIN
A new study says the amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, and it's helping to turbocharge climate change
BySETH BORENSTEIN
AP science writer
September 10, 2024,
The amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, helping to turbocharge climate change, a new study finds.
Tuesday’s study finds that in 2020, the last year complete data is available, the world put 670 million tons (608 million metric tons) of methane in the air, up nearly 12% from 2000. An even more significant finding in the study in Environmental Research Letters was the source of those emissions: those from humans jumped almost 18% in two decades, while natural emissions, mostly from wetlands, inched up just 2% in the same time.
Methane levels in the air are now 2.6 times higher than in pre-industrial times, the study said. Methane levels in the air had plateaued for a while in the early 2000s, but now are soaring. Humans cause methane emissions by burning fossil fuels, engaging in large-scale agriculture and filling up landfills.
“Methane is a climate menace that the world is ignoring,” study lead author Rob Jackson, head of the Global Carbon Project, which is a group of scientists who monitor greenhouse gas emissions yearly. “Methane has risen far more and much faster than carbon dioxide."
Carbon dioxide is still the biggest threat, said Jackson, a Stanford University climate scientist. Humans, mostly through the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, put 60 times more carbon dioxide in the air than methane and it lasts thousands of years.
Because methane leave the atmosphere in about a decade, it's a powerful “lever” that humans can use to fight climate change, Jackson said. That's because cutting it could yield relatively quick benefits.
In 2000, 60% of the methane spewed into the air came from direct human activity. Now it's 65%, the study found.
“It's a very worrying paper, but actually not a big surprise unfortunately,” said climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, who wasn't part of the research. He said for the world to keep warming to an agreed-upon limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, the world needs to cut carbon dioxide emissions nearly in half and methane by more than one-third.
But Jackson said the current trend with methane emissions has the world on target for warming of 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit), twice the goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
Jackson's study mostly focused on where the methane is coming from, both by location and source.
Geographically, everywhere but Europe is increasing in human-caused methane emissions, with large jumps in Asia, especially China and India, Jackson said.
In the last 20 years, methane emissions from coal mining, oil and gas have jumped 33%, while landfill and waste increased 20% and agriculture emissions rose 14%, according to the study. The biggest single human-connected source of emissions are cows, Jackson said.
Cornell University climate scientist Robert Howarth faulted the study for not sufficiently emphasizing methane emissions from the boom in shale gas drilling, known as fracking. He said that boom began in 2005 and coincided with a sharp rise in methane emissions, including a spike of about 13 million tons (11.7 million metric tons) in the United States alone since then.
Jackson said the rise in natural methane from tropical wetlands was triggered by warmer temperatures that caused microbes to spew more gas. He called it disturbing because “we don't have any way of reducing” those emissions.
In 2021, countries promised to do something about methane, but it's not working yet, Jackson said.
Though Jackson's data runs only through 2020, he said global monitoring of methane levels in the air show that “we know that concentrations in the last four or five years rose faster than at any time in the instrument record. So that alone tells us that the global methane pledge is not having a substantive effect on methane emissions and concentrations,” he said.
University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver, who wasn't part of the research, said, “we have a lot more work to do if we want to avoid the most dire consequences of global warming.”
___
Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment
___
Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears
September 10, 2024,
The amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, helping to turbocharge climate change, a new study finds.
Tuesday’s study finds that in 2020, the last year complete data is available, the world put 670 million tons (608 million metric tons) of methane in the air, up nearly 12% from 2000. An even more significant finding in the study in Environmental Research Letters was the source of those emissions: those from humans jumped almost 18% in two decades, while natural emissions, mostly from wetlands, inched up just 2% in the same time.
Methane levels in the air are now 2.6 times higher than in pre-industrial times, the study said. Methane levels in the air had plateaued for a while in the early 2000s, but now are soaring. Humans cause methane emissions by burning fossil fuels, engaging in large-scale agriculture and filling up landfills.
“Methane is a climate menace that the world is ignoring,” study lead author Rob Jackson, head of the Global Carbon Project, which is a group of scientists who monitor greenhouse gas emissions yearly. “Methane has risen far more and much faster than carbon dioxide."
Carbon dioxide is still the biggest threat, said Jackson, a Stanford University climate scientist. Humans, mostly through the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, put 60 times more carbon dioxide in the air than methane and it lasts thousands of years.
Because methane leave the atmosphere in about a decade, it's a powerful “lever” that humans can use to fight climate change, Jackson said. That's because cutting it could yield relatively quick benefits.
In 2000, 60% of the methane spewed into the air came from direct human activity. Now it's 65%, the study found.
“It's a very worrying paper, but actually not a big surprise unfortunately,” said climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, who wasn't part of the research. He said for the world to keep warming to an agreed-upon limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, the world needs to cut carbon dioxide emissions nearly in half and methane by more than one-third.
But Jackson said the current trend with methane emissions has the world on target for warming of 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit), twice the goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
Jackson's study mostly focused on where the methane is coming from, both by location and source.
Geographically, everywhere but Europe is increasing in human-caused methane emissions, with large jumps in Asia, especially China and India, Jackson said.
In the last 20 years, methane emissions from coal mining, oil and gas have jumped 33%, while landfill and waste increased 20% and agriculture emissions rose 14%, according to the study. The biggest single human-connected source of emissions are cows, Jackson said.
Cornell University climate scientist Robert Howarth faulted the study for not sufficiently emphasizing methane emissions from the boom in shale gas drilling, known as fracking. He said that boom began in 2005 and coincided with a sharp rise in methane emissions, including a spike of about 13 million tons (11.7 million metric tons) in the United States alone since then.
Jackson said the rise in natural methane from tropical wetlands was triggered by warmer temperatures that caused microbes to spew more gas. He called it disturbing because “we don't have any way of reducing” those emissions.
In 2021, countries promised to do something about methane, but it's not working yet, Jackson said.
Though Jackson's data runs only through 2020, he said global monitoring of methane levels in the air show that “we know that concentrations in the last four or five years rose faster than at any time in the instrument record. So that alone tells us that the global methane pledge is not having a substantive effect on methane emissions and concentrations,” he said.
University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver, who wasn't part of the research, said, “we have a lot more work to do if we want to avoid the most dire consequences of global warming.”
___
Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment
___
Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears
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