Atmospheric methane spike ‘major concern’ for climate scientists

Citing a recent rise in atmospheric methane, researchers behind new reports have voiced concern about the rate at which concentrations of the greenhouse gas have been rising.

The amount of methane in the atmosphere is much smaller than the amount of carbon dioxide. However, methane has a much stronger greenhouse effect.

Two different papers, published this week in the journals Earth System Science Data and Environmental Research Letters, revealed emissions of methane have spiked drastically in the past several years and are getting close to an internationally identified worst-case situation for greenhouse gas emissions. If unmanaged, this boost might cause the average global temperature to rise as much as 6 degrees F, a level thought to trigger catastrophic sea level rise and extreme weather.

The papers also described strategies for curbing methane emissions down the road, with a focus on food industries, which comprise approximately one-third of overall man-made emissions.

Cause for Major Concern

The dramatic recent rise in methane brings focus on controlling those emissions for climate change purposes. While most mitigation attempts have centered on carbon dioxide, the more well-known greenhouse gas, methane is, by one measure, around 28 times more efficient at storing heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. However, methane’s persistence in the atmosphere is much smaller. Quite simply, it can do significant damage, but getting it in check could tip the climate change equation fairly quickly.

“Methane presents the best opportunity to slow climate change quickly,” study author by Rob Jackson, an Earth system scientist at Stanford University, said in a news release. “Carbon dioxide has a longer reach, but methane strikes faster.”

Natural causes of methane emissions, about 40 percent of all emissions, are less identified than human-driven emissions. Examples include methane seeping out from natural faults and on the ocean floor, and the possibility for boosted emissions as permafrost warms. Another possibility includes investigating the short-lived radicals that break down methane in the atmosphere.

Due to the changing knowledge on this issue, the international group of researchers behind the study has promised to update the methane budget biennially.

“We still need to cut carbon dioxide emissions, but cutting methane provides complementary benefits for climate, economies and human health,” Jackson said.

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