Estimates Of Anthropogenic Methane May Be Far Too Low - ES&T/Nature

[hatrack]

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The most extensive study to date of atmospheric methane levels portends that current estimates of anthropogenic emissions of the greenhouse gas may be too low. Published in Nature, the research suggests that rising industrial emissions of methane have been masked by decreasing contributions from wetlands.

Levels of atmospheric methane, which is more than 20 times as potent a greenhouse gas as CO2, have more than tripled since preindustrial times, the authors write.

Philippe Bousquet of the Climate and Environment Science Laboratory (France) and his colleagues analyzed air samples taken between 1984 and 2003 at 68 measurement stations throughout the world. Using complex atmospheric modeling, they determined that methane decreases observed during the 1990s were caused by a decline in emissions from human sources. They also ascertained that anthropogenic emissions have increased since 1999; they posit that this is due to the economic boom in southeast Asia. During the same period, the amount of methane produced by bacteria living in swampy lands has gone down because of the 5% decline in flooded land throughout the world, they write.

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http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/nov/science/kb_methane.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Well, they are probably right. I know that I am personally

responsible for a lot of "anthropogenic" methane, especially if I eat beans or sauerkraut................

[JohnWxy]

2. This is why the thawing of the permafrost is so ominous. We don't really have

enough data yet for scientists to accurately gauge how much accelaration to Gloabal Warming this will produce, but it could be (probably will be - in my opinion) very significant. We might see warming predicted for the end of the century being reached by 2050. It's the acceleration, which is already being seen, that's really concerning. - hard to gauge just how much the warming is going to speed up.

[lakeguy]

3. some studies (at least one anyway) predict that the

melting permafrost areas could match the expected temp increase due to human CO2 input. presented some info on this a while back but don't have my refs.