Scientists finally know why there's a massive cloud of methane gas over the SW US [View all]

[RussBLib]

Scientists Finally Know Why There's a Massive Cloud of Methane Gas Over the Southwest

The news: A single hot spot in the American Southwest is responsible for the biggest concentration of methane gas seen over the United States. Now, thanks to satellite imagery, we can see just how massive it is.

The data, published on Thursday by scientists at NASA and the University of Michigan, found that the amount of the noxious gas over the region is more than three times larger than ground estimates indicated.

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Where is it coming from? Although the region is located right near a hotbed for fracking, Kort noted that the wildly high numbers predate any activity related to fracking.

Instead, he believes that the methane is coming from "leaks in natural gas production and processing equipment." Natural gas is 95% to 98% methane, and the San Juan Basin is the most active coal-bed methane production area in the country, according to the study. At 590,000 metric tons, that means this massive cloud comprises 10% of the EPA's estimate of total U.S. emissions from natural gas production

http://mic.com/articles/101174/scientists-finally-know-why-there-s-a-massive-cloud-of-methane-gas-over-the-southwest

Actually, it doesn't sound all that convincing to me. Not fracking alone, but the entire oil industry?