Oil and gas firms 'have had far worse climate impact than thought'

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Oil and gas firms 'have had far worse climate impact than thought'

Study indicates human fossil methane emissions have been underestimated by up to 40%

Jonathan Watts
@jonathanwatts
Wed 19 Feb 2020 16.00 GMT
Last modified on Wed 19 Feb 2020 21.28 GMT

The oil and gas industry has had a far worse impact on the climate than previously believed, according to a study indicating that human emissions of fossil methane have been underestimated by up to 40%.

Although the research will add to pressure on fossil fuel companies, scientists said there was cause for hope because it showed a big extra benefit could come from tighter regulation of the industry and a faster shift towards renewable energy.

Methane has a greenhouse effect that is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and is responsible for at least 25% of global heating, according to the UN Environment Programme.

In the past two centuries, the amount of methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled, though there has long been uncertainty about whether the source was biological – from agriculture, livestock or landfills – or from fossil fuels. There were also doubts about what share of fossil methane was naturally released and what share was from industry.

Earlier estimates were based on intermittent, bottom-up monitoring of oil and gas companies and comparisons with geological evidence from the end of the Pleistocene epoch, about 11,600 years ago.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/19/oil-gas-industry-far-worse-climate-impact-than-thought-fossil-fuels-methane

______________________________________________________________________

Related: Preindustrial 14CH4 indicates greater anthropogenic fossil CH4 emissions (Nature)

[Mickju]

1. Not to mention the thawing permafrost.