You've likely already seen concerns expressed
about methane emissions from geological sources, as well as from cattle and other livestock.
So I don't
know about methane in the deep past, but I do agree with your conclusion about our future.
The importance of this debate has grown the more we've
learned about methane — and one of the things we've learned is how fast it acts.
In contrast, if we eliminated carbon dioxide emissions but did
nothing about methane and black carbon emissions, threats posed by long - term climate change would be markedly reduced.
The scare
story about methane is based on an imaginary 72 times higher climate sensitivity than CO2.
However, given the alarming
headlines about methane in the ocean, as seen here and here for example, I did some additional reporting.
Again, responding only to concern
about methane release from the digestive processes of domestic grazing animals:
The good
news about methane is there are already pretty clear paths to progress, explained Jonathan Banks, senior climate policy advisor for the Clean Air Task Force.
But having made my point, I probably shouldn't hijack this interesting post
about methane hydrates any further — I guess we should try to work out how to extract and burn them to avert the peak oil crisis risk of release: --RRB-
Curiosity should still be able to settle everyone's questions
about methane on Mars.
While fracking has become a focal point in
conversations about methane emissions, it certainly appears from this and other studies that in the U.S., fossil fuel extraction activities across the board likely emit higher than inventory estimates.»
Somehow a rather sensational 2007 article
about methane clathrates, on a left - wing political website called The Canadian, has exposed all those climate scientists as lily - livered Chicken Little worrywarts.
The «all of the above» praise of oil production growth isn't so wonderful on climate change terms and we are discovering
things about methane leakage in natural gas, but this is the «truth» of «All of the Above».
I emailed NOAA methane expert Ed Dlugokencky and asked him if he could reconcile what the climate science literature
says about methane versus the assumptions guiding Wednesday's Nature commentary.
New
data about methane leakage from fracking suggests an opening for tighter standards and technical solutions.
The team of Natalia Shakhova, from the University of Alaska, and Russian scientists including Igor Semiletov, just released a paper on November
24th about methane emissions in the sea off East Siberia.
I'm not so
sure about methane (major sources include rice agriculture, landfills, domesticated animals and biomass burning).
Gulp, however, with its singular focus on the ins and outs of the digestive tract, is Roach's opportunity to indulge in high - brow scatological humor and dive into
research about methane, chewing, and laxatives.
There is no need for carbon taxes or exchanges or carbon sequestration or the Kyoto treaty or IPCC, or Al Gore or worrying
about methane burps..
There are
uncertainties about methane emissions — and part of the administration's strategy is to improve our numbers — but we know enough to take some action, and this problem may be easier to solve than many characterize.»
While natural gas has been touted as a clean - burning fuel that produces less carbon dioxide than coal, ecologist Robert Howarth warns that we should be more concerned
about methane leaking into the atmosphere during hydraulic fracturing.
I dread
writing about methane, because whatever figures for 20/100 years I provide, I almost always get a comment from someone who says I've got it wrong.