The analysis shows that during the past 20 years, emissions caused by humans have increased by 18%, whereas emissions from natural sources have increased by only 2%.
In the process of developing, humanity has always made compromises with the environment. According to a recent study, human activity has resulted in the emission of almost 670 million tonnes of methane into the atmosphere in a mere 20 years, indicating that methane emissions have reached concerning levels.
The study claims that methane, a heat-trapping gas that causes global warming, is becoming more and more prevalent in the atmosphere, which is leading to climate change.
Recognizing emissions of methane
Methane concentrations in the atmosphere today exceed pre-industrial levels by a factor of 2.5. Recent years have seen an acceleration of the trend, and early evidence suggests that 2023 will see another notable annual increase.
The amount of time that various greenhouse gases spend in the atmosphere and their capacity to absorb energy are two important factors that define how they affect the climate. Methane absorbs a lot more energy in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2), but it has a far shorter atmospheric lifetime—roughly 12 years as opposed to centuries.
Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, regardless of the conversion factor, and cutting emissions from the energy sector quickly and consistently is essential to keeping global warming to 1.5 °C. Because methane can produce ground level (tropospheric) ozone, a hazardous pollutant, it also has an impact on air quality. Explosion and health risks might also result from methane leaks.
CO2 is the greatest danger.
Jackson emphasized that carbon dioxide remained the greatest threat, stating that human activity, through the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas, releases 60 times more CO2 into the atmosphere than methane over a period of thousands of years.
Jackson went on to say that since methane evaporates from the atmosphere in ten years, it provides a weapon against climate change. Reducing methane emissions could have a quick positive impact because it decomposes more readily than other greenhouse gasses like CO2.
Not involved in the research, climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, stated, “It’s a very worrying paper, but not a big surprise unfortunately.” He stated that the world must reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost half and methane emissions by more than one-third in order to maintain global warming to the agreed-upon limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.
The study’s primary focus was on identifying the source of the emission based on geographic location, and it discovered that all regions except Europe are involved in the increase in methane emissions due by human activity. with China and India, two significant Asian countries, making the largest contributions.
The study found that over the previous 20 years, methane emissions from landfills and garbage climbed by 20%, while methane emissions from gas, oil, and coal mining increased by 33%. Methane emissions from agricultural increased by 14%. Concurrently, Jackson asserted that cows are the primary human-related source of emissions.
Robert Howarth, a climate scientist at Cornell University, criticized the report, arguing that it did not place enough attention on the methane emissions resulting from the surge in fracking, or shale gas drilling. According to him, the “boom began in 2005 and coincided with a sharp rise in methane emissions, with the United States alone experiencing a spike of about 13 million tonnes (11.7 million metric tonnes) since then.”
Jackson asserted that rising temperatures caused bacteria to release more gas, which is why there has been an increase in natural emissions. Because “we don’t have any way of reducing” the emissions, he described it as unsettling.
Jackson stated, “Global monitoring of methane levels in the air shows that we know that concentrations in the last four or five years rose faster than at any time in the instrument record,” despite the fact that his data only goes through 2020. Thus, that evidence by itself indicates that methane emissions and concentrations are not being significantly impacted by the global methane commitment.
Countries committed to taking action against methane in 2021, but Jackson claimed that as of yet, nothing had changed.
The proposed Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter may reduce emissions by around 20 million tons.
A sector-wide effort aimed at promoting climate action in the oil and gas industry is the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (ODGC), which was introduced at COP28. 52 firms have signed on, and their goals include achieving near-zero upstream methane emissions by 2030, ending routine flaring by 2050, and achieving net zero scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions from their activities.
About thirty of the businesses that have joined the OGDC had not previously participated in other global programs like the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 or the Aiming for Zero Methane Initiative to combat methane and flaring. This group comprises several National Oil enterprises (NOCs), accounting for approximately 60% of all the enterprises that have joined the OGDC.
