methane
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Environment
The proposed new start date of the Anthropocene: when humans first change the world’s methane levels
Cycling methane (CH4) and moving around the trees and its surroundings. Credit: Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2025). doi:10.1038/s43017-025-00692-9 Humans have reconstructed their environment for at least 10,000 years. However, the Anthropocene is a name given to a particular period in the history of the Earth, where humans had global influence on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. Despite its formal…
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Environment
How air pollution forms a budget for methane
A conceptual diagram showing how air pollution regulates global OH radicals and CH4 chemical sinks. Credit: Nature (2025). doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09004-z Methane is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases and is a major contributor to global warming. It also affects the formation of other climate-related substances, such as ozone and water vapor, especially the stratosphere. However, the atmospheric lifetime of methane…
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Environment
Vicious Cycle: How Methane Emissions from Warming Wetlands Aggravate Climate Change
a, c, e, Seasonal cycle of CH4 derived by singular spectral analysis 47 from observations of BRW (A), MLO (C), and SPO (E) during the period 1984-1988 and 2016-2020. Shady areas show standard deviations of seasonal CH4 cycles for each 5 years. Long-term trends in seasonal CH4 amplitudes in B, D, F, BRW (B), MLO (D), and SPO (F). G,…
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Earth
Methane: Where does it come from and why are we running out of time?
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Methane emissions and atmospheric concentrations continue to increase, making it the second most important human-influenced greenhouse gas in terms of post-carbon climate forcing. In fact, methane concentrations have risen faster in the last five years than any period since record-keeping began, but studies suggest that reductions in methane emissions may be cheaper than carbon dioxide mitigation…
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Earth
Large amounts of methane emissions from baffle researchers in Swedish lakes
Locals in Lake Siljan in northern Sweden talk about winter ice holes that often occur in the same location every year. Currently, researchers at Sweden’s Chalmers Institute of Technology are looking into areas with a whole new method of measurement, and have unexpectedly discovered strong methane emissions from several locations in the area’s lake. This is the cause of the…
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Earth
Advanced isotope analysis provides new insights into global fossil methane emissions
Emissions and sinking of pre- and rear CH4s by sector from 1850 to 2015. Credit: Journal of Geophysics Research: Atmospheres (2025). doi: 10.1029/2024JD041266 International research published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres uses innovative multi-isotopic atmospheric measurements to provide new insights into global fossil methane emissions. Principal Accelerator scientist Dr Andrew Smith, co-author of researching methane emissions for over…
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Earth
An underappreciated source of methane discovered in shallow coastal waters
Coastal waters: underestimated methane source coverage. Credit: Tim de Groot Shallow coastal waters are hotspots for methane emissions, releasing large amounts of this powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. New research reveals how tides, seasons, and ocean currents have a huge impact on methane emissions, and how tiny microorganisms called methanotrophs can help reduce that…
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Science
Aerial observations identify major sources of U.S. landfill methane emissions
An example image of a landfill site where methane is emitted from the working face. Credit: Environmental Science and Technology (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c07572 Through tests from aircraft, the research team found that landfill faces tend to be the largest source of methane emissions in U.S. landfills. Their findings are published in the journal Environment Science and Technology. The researchers are…
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Environment
Report: Reducing methane emissions key to fighting climate change and harmful ozone layer
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Many human activities release methane into the atmosphere. Agriculture, landfills, wastewater, and fossil fuel production and distribution are the largest sources of methane. These account for approximately 60% of global methane emissions, with the remaining 40% coming from natural sources. Like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane is a potent greenhouse gas and is estimated to be responsible…
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