The concentration of greenhouse gas methane in the atmosphere increased by 17 parts per billion (ppb) in 2021. This is the highest increase since records began in 1983. US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports Based on measurements from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. In 2020, methane concentration is already higher than ever before in the measurement period. The two consecutive significant increases show that the concentration of the second most important greenhouse gas, such as carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere2Concentration is currently increasing at an accelerating rate. At 1896 parts per billion, the concentration of methane is more than two and a half times what it was before industrialization began.
Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but it decomposes chemically relatively quickly. Together with nitrogen oxides and halogenated hydrocarbons, they are thus one of the short-lived pollutants that affect the climate, SLCP for short. The warming they cause ends once they are no longer mass-produced. For this reason, methane does not play a major role in the long-term climate compared to carbon dioxide; But because they lead to a much stronger global warming effect, they have a very pronounced effect on near-term warming trends. So there is a hypothesis that global warming will release methane from the permafrost in the Arctic and so forth It can lead to a vicious circle where high temperature and release of methane gas each other.
So far, this has not been definitively clarified That is why the concentration of methane in the atmosphere is currently increasing very rapidly. At the turn of the millennium, it has been stable for about a decade and has only been increasing rapidly since 2007. Where the additional gas comes from is a matter of debate. It is difficult to prove the sources with certainty because there are many natural and man-made sources of methane, including in agriculture, whose changes are difficult to measure. Many experts believe that leaks in the production and distribution of natural gas are the main cause of the problem because its production has increased dramatically since the turn of the millennium – but there are also analyzes that conflict with this.
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