Hold Your Breath — Nearly 200 Infrared Videos Expose Methane Pollution All Across the United States

[monicaangela]

It's not just Aliso Canyon — fugitive, toxic methane gas escaping into the air is a much more widespread problem than anyone could have imagined.

By Earthworks / EcoWatch

This is a very interesting article I read today, follow the link. This is dastrous.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/hold-your-breath-nearly-200-infrared-videos-expose-methane-pollution-all-across-united

[daleanime]

1. ......

[monicaangela]

5. Spot on deleanime

This is really scary. At this rate, earth could begin to warm even more rapidly meaning more disastrous weather events and the eventual demise of life as we know it.

[itsrobert]

2. I didn't think Porter Ranch was the only one

I was thinking there are thousands more around the world just like it.

[monicaangela]

3. I suspected the same thing

and wondered why they were placing so much emphasis on the Porter Ranch incident. It is time to move away from fossil fuels IMHO, if we want to continue to be able to inhabit this planet that is.

[rurallib]

4. Since methane is so much worse for the environment than other GH gasses

this could really help explain why scientists are continually caught off guard by actual climate change that seems to be far out pacing predictions. Having all those 'invisible' spots where unaccounted for methane is just being thrown into the air is addding unknown tons and tons.

[monicaangela]

6. Exactly rurallib

Fracking is another culprit that is adding to the problem. Throughout the US shale gas boom, natural gas has been described as a “bridge fuel”—a lower-CO2 alternative to coal that yields immediate emissions reductions while renewable energy grows into the long-term solution. This is because burning natural gas—chiefly composed of methane, a molecule with one carbon atom and four hydrogens—produces less CO2 than coal does when generating the same amount of energy. However, there's another factor to consider. Methane is also a potent greenhouse gas, so any leakage of natural gas into the atmosphere before it’s burned eats into those CO2 savings. Unlike CO­2, though, methane doesn’t last very long in the atmosphere. After an average of 12 years, methane reacts with hydroxyl molecules to form CO2 and water.

http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/02/methane-burned-vs-methane-leaked-frackings-impact-on-climate-change/

[GliderGuider]

7. Atmospheric Methane Spikes to Record 3096 Parts Per Billion

2 C Coming On Faster Than We Feared — Atmospheric Methane Spikes to Record 3096 Parts Per Billion

On February 20th, for about 12 hours, the NOAA METOP measure recorded a major atmospheric methane spike in the range of 3,096 parts per billion at 20,000 feet in altitude. This was the first time that any measure had recorded such a high methane spike and the first time any measure had exceeded the 3,000 parts per billion threshold. For context, just two years ago, a methane spike in the range of 2,660 parts per billion would have been significant. Now, we’re getting peak readings that are more than 400 parts per billion higher than that previous maximum threshold.

It’s a pretty ominous signal — especially when you consider the fact that global atmospheric methane averages are in the range of 1830 parts per billion. The recent major spike was about 1170 parts per billion higher. In other words — a pretty extraordinary excession. It’s evidence that the methane sources of the world are growing more vigorous in their output. And when you consider the fact that methane — on a molecule-by-molecule comparison to CO2 — traps about 80 times more heat over the decadal timescale, large additions of methane on top of an already dangerous CO2 forcing is certainly cause for some concern. An issue that may further speed the already rapid pace of human-forced warming such that we become at risk of hitting the 1.5 C and 2 C thresholds sooner than expected. Outcomes we should urgently be working to avoid — by cutting the human-based emission as rapidly as possible at this time.

No, it's not cow farts.

Something else worth remembering is that the 10-year Global Warming Potential of 80 or so that's usually given for methane is a crock of shit. This is the result of a thought experiment based on having a slug of methane enter the atmosphere and then decaying for a decade. That's not what's happening. We have a constant inflow of methane that is entering the atmosphere faster than the old methane can decay, giving a constantly rising atmospheric concentration. In this case we need to use the instantaneous GWP of methane. Nobody really talks about this, because it's too disheartening. It looks like it's on the order of 150x stronger than CO2. That implies that the real value for CO2e is now about 400+(1.8x150) or around 650 ppm.

Yes, it's over - we're done.

[monicaangela]

8. Excellent comment GliderGuider

I have been trying to convey this to friends and family as we discuss the upcoming elections. I get disheartened sometimes when I look at my grandchildren. I continue to wish the masses on this planet would begin to pay closer attention to what is happening to the earth due to human error. Thanks so much for this information, it will help me convince more people of the urgency of getting involved in activism that just might help us at least prolong our demise.