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Agriculture and fossil fuels are driving record-high methane emissions

by NsikakAbasi Etim Jnr | 19-07-2020 01:14 recommendations 0

Agriculture and fossil fuels are driving record-high methane emissions

Methane levels in the atmosphere are at an all-time high. But curbing emissions of that potent greenhouse gas requires knowing where methane is being released, and why. Now, a global inventory of methane sources reveals the major culprits behind rising methane pollution in the 21st century.

Agriculture, landfill waste and fossil fuel use were the primary reasons that Earth¡¯s atmosphere absorbed about 40 million metric tons more methane from human activities in 2017 than it did per year in the early 2000s. Expanding agriculture dominated methane release in places like Africa, South Asia and Oceania, while increasing fossil fuel use heightened emissions in China and the United States.

Although there is far less methane than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, methane can trap about 30 times as much heat over a century as the same amount of CO2. Tallying methane sources is really important if you want to understand how the climate is going to evolve.

It can also help prioritize strategies to quell pollution, like consuming less meat to cut down on emissions from cattle ranches and using aircraft or satellites to scout out leaky gas pipelines to fix.

In 2017, human activities pumped about 364 million metric tons of methane into the atmosphere, compared with 324 million tons per year, on average, in the early 2000s. About half of that 12 percent increase was the result of expanding agriculture and landfills, while the other half arose from fossil fuels. Emissions from natural sources like wetlands, on the other hand, held relatively steady.

Emissions rose most sharply in Africa and the Middle East, and South Asia and Oceania. Both regions ramped up emissions by 10 million to 15 million metric tons. Agricultural sources, such as cattle ranches and paddy fields, were responsible for a 10-million-ton rise in emissions from South Asia and Oceania and a surge almost as big in Africa, the authors estimate. Emissions swelled by 5 to 10 million tons in China and North America, where fossil fuels drove pollution. In the United States alone, fossil fuels boosted methane release by about 4 million tons. 

One region that did not show an uptick in methane was the Arctic. That¡¯s curious, because the Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else in the world, and is covered in permafrost — which is expected to release lots of methane into the air as it thaws. The new findings could mean that the Arctic has not bled much methane into the atmosphere yet — or that scientists have not collected enough data from this remote area to accurately gauge its methane emission trends.

Emissions of the heat-trapping gas methane are rising all over the world, mostly due to agriculture and fossil fuel use. In this illustration of methane permeating the atmosphere during 2017 and 2018, darker red indicates higher methane levels.

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15 Comments

  • Asmita Gaire says :
    Greetings Nsikakabasi
    I hope you are doing well
    Thank you so much for this report
    Keep writing
    Green cheers
    Regards
    Asmita Gaire
    Posted 29-09-2020 23:45

  • Paras Kunwar says :

    Hello ,
    I hope you are fine and doing good.
    Thank you for this informative report about agriculture and fossil.
    Keep writing.
    Green Cheers.

    Regards,
    Paras Kunwar
    Posted 31-07-2020 16:36

Sonika Pariyar

  • Sonika Pariyar says :
    Hello NiskakAbasi!

    I hope you are fine and doing great!
    Different changes like using alternative wetting and drying method in rice field use of eco friendly energy can help to reduce methane emission.

    Thanks for sharing !

    Keep on sharing!

    GREEN CHEERS FROM NEPAL!
    Regards,
    Sonika
    Posted 21-07-2020 23:34

  • Shruti Shrestha says :
    yeah, basically paddy field
    great one !thanks for sharing.
    Posted 19-07-2020 20:55

  • Sagar Koirala says :
    Hello NisikakAbasi,
    Green Cheers from Nepal

    Agriculture and Fossil Fuel are also one of the major methane cause of Green House Emission. We need to look out for more eco-friendly approaches

    Regards,
    Sagar Koirala
    Posted 19-07-2020 19:53

  • ALOK DHAKAL says :
    Thank you for sharing

    Posted 19-07-2020 19:06

  • Pooja Gyawali says :
    Informative one.Thank you for sharing.
    Keep writing.
    Regards,
    Pooja!!!
    Posted 19-07-2020 18:33

Prakriti  Ghimire

  • Saloni Salian says :
    Thank you for sharing
    Posted 19-07-2020 02:06

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