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| Mon, 13th Apr 2020 13:18:00 |
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Methane levels at all-time high after near-record increase in gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide |
Global methane levels have hit an all-time high after what appears to be a near-record yearly atmospheric increase in the potent greenhouse gas.
The concentration of methane in the Earth's atmosphere reached nearly 1,875 parts per billion in 2019, up from the previous year's 1,866 parts per billion, according to preliminary data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
If confirmed later this year, it would be the second highest increase in methane levels in more than two decades. The NOAA began collecting global methane data in 1983.
Though methane remains in the atmosphere for only a few years, it is 28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping the sun's heat, and it poses an increasingly grave threat to efforts to tackle escalating global heating.
"Here we are. It's 2020, and it's not only not dropping. It's not level. In fact, it's one of the fastest growth rates we've seen in the last 20 years," Drew Shindell, a climate scientist at Duke University, told Scientific American.
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