Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Sky-high methane mystery closer to being solved, UCI researchers say
http://today.uci.edu/news/2012/08/nr_methane_120822.php[font face=Serif][font size=5]Sky-high methane mystery closer to being solved, UCI researchers say[/font]
[font size=4]Commercial natural gas was likely major factor in late-20th century stabilization[/font]
— Irvine, Calif., August 22, 2012 —
[font size=3]Increased capture of natural gas from oil fields probably accounts for up to 70 percent of the dramatic leveling off seen in atmospheric methane at the end of the 20th century, according to new UC Irvine research being published Thursday, Aug. 23, in the journal Nature.
“We can now say with confidence that, based on our data, the trend is largely a result of changes in fossil fuel use,” said chemistry professor Donald Blake, senior author on the paper.
Methane has 20 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, although CO2 is filling the atmosphere in far larger amounts. After decades of increases due to worldwide industrial and agricultural activity, the tapering off of methane from the 1980s through 2005 was remarkable. Scientists have long wrestled with the cause.
…
Since 2007, levels have started to climb again, adding urgency to the scientific mystery. Many researchers have tried to determine what prompted the decline, including others at UCI. Last summer, a pair of papers in Nature offered different causes: less natural gas from oil fields in one case and changing fertilizer and water practices in rice paddies in the other. Blake said his group had confirmed – using comprehensive global measurements – that the former was probably the major factor.
…[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature11342[font size=4]Commercial natural gas was likely major factor in late-20th century stabilization[/font]
— Irvine, Calif., August 22, 2012 —
[font size=3]Increased capture of natural gas from oil fields probably accounts for up to 70 percent of the dramatic leveling off seen in atmospheric methane at the end of the 20th century, according to new UC Irvine research being published Thursday, Aug. 23, in the journal Nature.
“We can now say with confidence that, based on our data, the trend is largely a result of changes in fossil fuel use,” said chemistry professor Donald Blake, senior author on the paper.
Methane has 20 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, although CO2 is filling the atmosphere in far larger amounts. After decades of increases due to worldwide industrial and agricultural activity, the tapering off of methane from the 1980s through 2005 was remarkable. Scientists have long wrestled with the cause.
…
Since 2007, levels have started to climb again, adding urgency to the scientific mystery. Many researchers have tried to determine what prompted the decline, including others at UCI. Last summer, a pair of papers in Nature offered different causes: less natural gas from oil fields in one case and changing fertilizer and water practices in rice paddies in the other. Blake said his group had confirmed – using comprehensive global measurements – that the former was probably the major factor.
…[/font][/font]
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
