Tuesday 5 July 2022

Climate change a stronger driver of methane than expected

Climate change is more of a driver of methane emissions than previously thought.

That’s according to research by Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU), claiming that the Earth will heat up far quicker than we currently anticipate – with more tangible links to record-breaking methane levels.

Analysing data from the last 40 years, the scientists have found that more heat is being trapped in the atmosphere than what has commonly been estimated before.

Due to human activity and research into the concentration of methane levels in rain, the study found that the Earth is delivering more and removing less methane from the air.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) issued a warning last year on global ignorance of methane emissions, as there is a heavy push on reducing carbon.

Methane, however, constitutes for a third of global rises in temperature to date – and the NTU analysis suggests this may well have been an underestimation.

It found that for every degree increase in surface air temperature, the planet absorbs 0.08 watts of energy per square metre, due to additional methane emissions. That’s four times the estimate given by the IPCC – which suggests the Earth is on course to heat up far quicker than envisaged.