Methane Causes More Global Warming Than Carbon dioxide, IPCC Report states

Bad truths about Methane revealed.

Friday, 13th August 2021

A recent report from the IPCC stated that the devouring of fossil fuels in combination with agriculture has caused nitrous oxide and methane to soar to record heights for the last 800, 000 years at least. The greenhouse gases are said to have caused global temperatures to increase by nearly 1.1 degrees Celsius. The world is worried about the CO2 emissions and their climatic change results but there’s another odorless, invisible gas that can actually heat the planet up far faster. This very strong pollutant is able to trap about 80 percent more heat when compared to CO2. That gas is methane; a very powerful greenhouse gas making a key component of LNG or liquefied natural gas. The IPCC analysis presented through a publication this very week declared that methane emissions must come down in the forthcoming 10 years if the set climate goals are to be reached by the world.

As per the UN, methane emissions are behind 30 percent of global warming since pre-industrial times. As per the Environment protection agency of the United States, the gas methane (CH4) is actually a kind of hydrocarbon that makes natural gas a primary component.

Methane gas emissions come from a wide range of natural as well as human sources including coal mining, landfill, agricultural activities, mobile and stationary combustion, wastewater treatment, natural gas and oil systems, and myriad industrial processes.

Though both CO2 and Methane are associated with global warming, there are certain differences between the two.

A single molecule of CO2 results in lesser warming when compared to a single methane gas molecule, but that lingers in the atmosphere for several years whereas the methane molecule vanishes from the atmosphere within just two decades.

 So, lowering the methane levels would result in quite a rapid drop in the potential of atmospheric warming.

Countries like the United States, European Union, Russia, and Brazil account for the highest emission of methane gas as per the IPCC report. Next comes the countries like China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Mexico and our country India.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source:

Hindustantimes