Scientists cautioned on Tuesday that efforts by nations to reach their climate commitments are at risk due to the potent greenhouse gas methane’s fast rise in atmospheric concentrations.
“Methane is rising faster in relative terms than any major greenhouse gas and is now 2.6-fold higher than in pre-industrial times,” said an international group of researchers under the aegis of the Global Carbon Project in a study published in Environmental Research Letters.
Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas created by human activity after carbon dioxide, and its main sources include organic waste decomposing in landfills, energy generation, and agriculture.
Although it degrades more quickly, its initial 20 years of atmospheric influence are almost 80 times greater than those of carbon dioxide.
That presents a possibility to dramatically reduce climate impact in the short term, but the researchers found that despite efforts to cut methane emissions that atmospheric concentrations of the gas are still rising.
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