The climate threat of methane gas expansion is growing, and the public remains largely unaware — in part because of misinformation and misleading terminology.
One issue may be that there are a wide range of numbers for the relative warming potential of CH4 (methane), compared to CO2. Main reason is that this depends on the time horizon you care about - the shorter it is, the more methane counts. So it’s not such a big deal for long-term sea-level rise, as for earlier impacts such as ecosystems.
Moreover the relative warming potential CH4/CO2 inevitably changes over time, not because the science changes much, but as the atmosphere changes. The lifetime of methane in the atmosphere increases as its concentration rises, since it’s removed mainly by OH radicals of which there is a limited supply. While the warming effect of each new ton of CO2 decreases as its concentration rises, due to saturation of its absorption band in the infrared spectrum. Consequently, the ratio of these two keeps changing. In general, methane is getting relatively more important, not less.
So long as people are extracting and burning, it’s a problem, irrespective of whether you’re thinking about the direct impact that methane leaks have, or whether you’re talking about the CO2 that results from burning the methane. It all needs to stay in the ground.
One issue may be that there are a wide range of numbers for the relative warming potential of CH4 (methane), compared to CO2. Main reason is that this depends on the time horizon you care about - the shorter it is, the more methane counts. So it’s not such a big deal for long-term sea-level rise, as for earlier impacts such as ecosystems.
Moreover the relative warming potential CH4/CO2 inevitably changes over time, not because the science changes much, but as the atmosphere changes. The lifetime of methane in the atmosphere increases as its concentration rises, since it’s removed mainly by OH radicals of which there is a limited supply. While the warming effect of each new ton of CO2 decreases as its concentration rises, due to saturation of its absorption band in the infrared spectrum. Consequently, the ratio of these two keeps changing. In general, methane is getting relatively more important, not less.
So long as people are extracting and burning, it’s a problem, irrespective of whether you’re thinking about the direct impact that methane leaks have, or whether you’re talking about the CO2 that results from burning the methane. It all needs to stay in the ground.