Scientists at the University of Rochester in the United States have found that the amount of the greenhouse gas methane emitted by humans has long been underestimated. According to new estimates, real anthropogenic emissions are 25-40 percent higher than the projected values. The results of the work that reveal the truth about climate change are reported in a press release on Phys.org.
Researchers have measured the amount of carbon-14 isotopes in the Earth's atmosphere as it was over 200 years ago. To do this, they analyzed ice samples from Greenland, which contained air bubbles of that time. It turned out that until 1870, almost all the methane in the air was of biological origin. However, then anthropogenic gas emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels began to grow. Currently, the level of natural emissions is 10 times lower than reported in previous studies.
Methane is the second largest global warming greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. On average, it persists in the atmosphere for nine years, which is much less than for carbon dioxide. Reducing methane emissions is one of the most effective ways to combat the coming climate catastrophe.