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| Wed, 14th Oct 2020 10:57:00 |
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Why we should be worried about methane |
Cow burps, paddy fields and manure are some of the top sources of methane in our atmosphere. We already have some solutions to cut rising emissions, but how important is methane in terms of global warming? Stanford University Environmental Sciences professor Rob Jackson explains why we should pay more attention to the gas before it's too late.
DW: How powerful is methane as a greenhouse gas?
Rob Jackson: Well, since industrial activity began, methane has contributed about a quarter of all the warming that we've seen and it's far more potent, molecule for molecule or kilogram for kilogram than carbon dioxide is on a 20-year time frame. It's 80 or 90 times more potent. And even over a century, it's about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. So CO2 is still the dominant greenhouse gas we look at. But methane is second and provides a lot of opportunities to make a difference right now because it's so powerful.
What are the main sources of methane emissions?
Methane comes primarily from agricultural activities and fossil fuel use, and more than half of all methane emissions in the world now come from human activities. Agricultural activities - particularly cattle and other ruminants that release methane from their stomachs - and rice farming, are two of the biggest agricultural sources.
We also emit methane from manures. That's about two-thirds of the methane that we release from our activities. And oil and gas and coal extraction and use contribute another third. Fossil fuel use continues to go up, particularly for natural gas. And that's releasing more methane into the atmosphere as well. Methane is the dominant gas in natural gas.
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