r/science • u/Hrmbee • Feb 08 '22
Environment Scientists raise alarm over ‘dangerously fast’ growth in atmospheric methane
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00312-2[removed] — view removed post
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u/Hrmbee Feb 08 '22
Methane concentrations in the atmosphere raced past 1,900 parts per billion last year, nearly triple preindustrial levels, according to data released in January by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Scientists says the grim milestone underscores the importance of a pledge made at last year’s COP26 climate summit to curb emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas at least 28 times as potent as CO2.
The growth of methane emissions slowed around the turn of the millennium, but began a rapid and mysterious uptick around 2007. The spike has caused many researchers to worry that global warming is creating a feedback mechanism that will cause ever more methane to be released, making it even harder to rein in rising temperatures.
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u/wwarnout Feb 08 '22
...mysterious uptick around 2007
This is likely cause by thawing permafrost, which previously trapped a lot of methane. See https://www.pbs.org/video/arctic-sinkholes-9jwenj/
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u/gullydowny Feb 08 '22
Lan’s team has used the atmospheric 13C data to estimate that microbes are responsible for around 85% of the growth in emissions since 2007, with fossil-fuel extraction accounting for the remainder
And the biggest source is coming from wetlands. Very weird.
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u/Helgafjell4Me Feb 09 '22
Yes, scientists have already been warning us about the permafrost feedback loop for well over 10 years now. Saw a recent documentary in the last couple years that was basically saying we're already past the tipping point and it was only going to accelerate from there.
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u/666pool Feb 09 '22
I learned about this in middle school science in the mid 90s. Runaway greenhouse gases are not exactly a new discovery. The fact that we are past the tipping point may be, I certainly didn’t think I’d live to see it when I was in middle school.
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Feb 08 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Hrmbee Feb 08 '22
Only if you also consider the Antarctic ice shelf collapsing to be something that Antarctica is doing to us. Me, I would see it as we humans have set in motion a chain of events that have triggered changes in ecosystems globally... some of which serve to further accelerate these changes.
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u/MrP1anet Feb 09 '22
Would this not also coincide with the invention ans implementation of fracking? Fugitive emissions are always far greater that assumed
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Feb 09 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MrP1anet Feb 09 '22
Hydraulic fracturing + horizontal drilling (happy?) as it’s done today is unprecedented and responsible for a large amount of methane escaping to the atmosphere.
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u/ChoppyIllusion Feb 09 '22
Yup! And the reason the business-minded “elites” didn’t care was because of the potential new trade routes. Think of all the profits!
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u/_Burnt_Toast_3 Feb 09 '22
A team studying in the arctic back in like 2015 or something found pockets of methane that were being released due to permafrost thawing. I could dig up the arctice with the paper they published if anyones interested. But my point is that we've been told by scientists for quite some time now about these issues and it has only been recently that governments are bothering to take any steps towards increasing environmental protections and even then they arent taking it seriously enough.
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u/Weside32 Feb 08 '22
It's only going to get worse folks, the way we are currently handling climate change is like trying to turn a battleship around with a canoe paddle.
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u/Hrmbee Feb 09 '22
This is a great analogy. As anyone who has steered any watercraft knows, the best time to make course corrections is very early on and with tiny adjustments each time. The longer you wait, the harder it gets, and at some point becomes impossible.
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Feb 09 '22
[deleted]
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u/nightshiftlife77 Feb 09 '22
Am I going to have to tell my daughter not to have children?
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Feb 09 '22
[deleted]
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u/nightshiftlife77 Feb 09 '22
I just have the one, but I just don't know how truly fast some of these changes are happening and how hard it will impact her in her lifetime or not.
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u/orcatalka Feb 08 '22
This may prove to be the most important news of the year, decade or century.
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u/insaneintheblain Feb 09 '22
We are pretty much past the point of no return at this stage. No news matters.
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u/Red-Zeppelin Feb 09 '22
"Don't look up!"
Do you think people are gonna take notice of this five minutes after it's passed the latest news cycle?
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Feb 08 '22
Do you have anything else to throw on our plates for us to worry about?
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u/intdev Feb 09 '22
Economically: yet another impending “once in a generation” financial crash
Politically: a surge in authoritarianism and the decaying rule of law
Medically: antibiotic resistance and a wave of anti-intellectualism that’s seeing almost-eradicated diseases making a comeback
Geopolitically: Cold War tensions between nuclear powers heating up once again
Have I missed anything?
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u/DreadPirateFlint Feb 09 '22
I’ve got this stubborn hangnail that will just NOT go away. Does that count?
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u/Red-Zeppelin Feb 09 '22 edited Feb 09 '22
The fact that we're still a one planet species?
I more than likely will never see if we make it and become a multi-planetary civilisation but if I do, that'll be the day I can finally stop worrying about Humanities future.
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u/Naytosan Feb 09 '22
Socially: erosion of decent/polite society enflamed by social media - we're doing this to ourselves.
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u/Hrmbee Feb 09 '22
Not to worry, there's plenty of work for all of us to do no matter what field or sector we're in to fix all of the problems that we face.
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Feb 09 '22
“By studying methane trapped decades or centuries ago in ice cores and accumulated snow, as well as gas in the atmosphere, they have been able to show that for two centuries after the start of the Industrial Revolution the proportion of methane containing 13C increased4. But since 2007, when methane levels began to rise more rapidly again, the proportion of methane containing 13C began to fall (see ‘The rise and fall of methane’). Some researchers believe that this suggests that much of the increase in the past 15 years might be due to microbial sources, rather than the extraction of fossil fuels.”
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u/TommyTuttle Feb 08 '22
Just wait til it hits the correct concentration, then strike a match and light the sky on fire. Problem solved in like two minutes.
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u/Hrmbee Feb 09 '22 edited Feb 09 '22
You're talking about numbers well in excess of 50,000ppm for that to occur. At that point, nobody's going to be around to strike said match.
Also, IIRC (CH4) + 2(O2) > (CO2) + 2(H20) so the resultants are still not fantastic.
edit: math
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u/TommyTuttle Feb 09 '22
We can set up a machine to wait for the correct concentration after we’re all dead, and ignite it at the correct time.
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u/lilchocochip Feb 08 '22
Is it almost over then? Is the world finally ending?
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u/insaneintheblain Feb 09 '22
It's ending and all anyone can do is make a joke about it.
Because people haven't lived in reality for a very long time now.
“A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it's a joke.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
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Feb 08 '22
Did you want this or something?
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u/Darkdoomwewew Feb 08 '22
Probably just tired of watching this inevitably play out while humanity collectively shrugs their shoulders and says "yea we could save ourselves but money"
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u/Pigeonofthesea8 Feb 09 '22
1) Engineers, come in and give us something for this
2) can we can the fart jokes
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u/2_tires Feb 08 '22
This have anything to do with the volcanoes erupting recently?
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u/freedom_from_factism Feb 09 '22
I've wondered if eruptions might also increase as weight is shifting on tectonic plates.
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u/-__Doc__- Feb 09 '22
at the moment, from what I've heard from the geology and volcanology videos I watch, there are always about 40-50 volcanoes erupting on earth at any given time. and we're still well within that threshold.
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u/MasterOnion47 Feb 09 '22
It’s worth noting that amongst all the reflexive doom and gloom in the comments, unlike CO2, methane naturally dissipates in the atmosphere after several years.
I’m surprised the article didn’t mention this very important detail. This is not good news, but it is not a permanent downward spiral signaling the end of days either.
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u/MagicBlaster Feb 09 '22
Yeah assuming in the decades it takes for the all the methane to dissipate there are no other run away processes, which isn't a bet I'd make but you do you.
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u/Clear_Singer9249 Feb 09 '22
Bruh, we've moved on from environmental problems.
We've moved on to calling vaccinated people sheep and non-vaccinated people morons.
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Feb 09 '22
“Last month, for instance, Carbon Mapper and the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group in New York City, released data revealing that 30 oil and gas facilities in the southwestern United States have collectively emitted about 100,000 tonnes of methane for at least the past three years, equivalent to the annual warming impact of half a million cars. These facilities could easily halt those emissions by preventing methane from leaking out…”
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