{"id":67385,"date":"2024-04-17T19:13:08","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T00:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=67385"},"modified":"2024-04-17T19:13:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T00:13:08","slug":"more-climate-warming-methane-leaks-into-the-atmosphere-than-ever-gets-reported-heres-how-satellites-can-find-the-leaks-and-avoid-wasting-a-valuable-resource","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=67385","title":{"rendered":"More\u00a0climate-warming\u00a0methane leaks into the atmosphere than ever gets reported \u2013 here\u2019s how satellites can find the leaks and avoid wasting a valuable\u00a0resource"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More climate-warming<\/span>\u00a0methane leaks into the atmosphere than ever gets reported \u2013 here\u2019s how satellites can find the leaks and avoid wasting a valuable\u00a0resource<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
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Far more methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is being\u00a0released from landfills<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0oil and gas operations<\/a>\u00a0around the world than governments realized, recent airborne and satellite surveys show. That\u2019s a problem for the climate as well as human health. It\u2019s also why the U.S. government has been\u00a0tightening regulations<\/a>\u00a0on methane leaks and wasteful venting, most recently from\u00a0oil and gas wells on public lands<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The good news is that many of those leaks can be fixed \u2013 if they\u2019re spotted quickly.<\/em><\/p>\n

Riley Duren<\/a>, a research scientist at the University of Arizona and former NASA engineer and scientist, leads\u00a0Carbon Mapper<\/a>, a nonprofit that is planning a constellation of methane-monitoring satellites. Its first satellite, a partnership with NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Earth-imaging company Planet Labs, launches in 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n

Duren explained how new satellites are changing companies\u2019 and governments\u2019 ability to find and stop methane leaks and\u00a0avoid wasting a valuable product<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Methane plumes detected by plane at a Georgia landfill surrounded by homes.<\/span>\u00a0Carbon Mapper<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why are methane emissions such a concern?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Methane is the\u00a0second-most common global-warming pollutant<\/a>\u00a0after carbon dioxide. It doesn\u2019t stay in the atmosphere as long \u2013 only about a decade compared to centuries for carbon dioxide \u2013 but it packs an outsized punch.<\/p>\n

Methane\u2019s\u00a0ability to warm the planet<\/a>\u00a0is nearly 30 times greater than carbon dioxide\u2019s over 100 years, and more than 80 times over 20 years. You can think of methane as being a very effective blanket that traps heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet.<\/p>\n

What\u00a0worries many communities<\/a>\u00a0is that methane is also a health problem. It is a precursor to ozone, which can\u00a0worsen asthma, bronchitis<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0other lung problems<\/a>. And in some cases, methane emissions are accompanied by other\u00a0harmful pollutants<\/a>, like benzene, a carcinogen.<\/p>\n

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More climate-warming\u00a0methane leaks into the atmosphere than ever gets reported \u2013 here\u2019s how satellites can find the leaks and avoid wasting a valuable\u00a0resource Far more methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is being\u00a0released from landfills\u00a0and\u00a0oil and gas operations\u00a0around the world than governments realized, recent airborne and satellite surveys show. That\u2019s a problem for the climate as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4556,9914,5316,7437,8487],"class_list":["post-67385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","tag-atmosphere","tag-emissions","tag-methane","tag-methane-emissions","tag-the-conversation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67386,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67385\/revisions\/67386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}