Concentration of methane in the atmosphere breaks record in 2021, warns UN. See the video!

On the same day, the UN Climate Change office warned that the latest international commitments are “very far” from meeting the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to +1,5ºC.

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In 2020 and 2021, the concentration of methane – the second largest contributor to global warming – increased by 15 and 18 parts per billion (ppb), respectively. It is difficult to determine the origin of emissions, because the sources and “sinks” that absorb the gas can be confused, explains the WMO.

Why?

Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about the issue of methane, especially after the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline and the so-called cattle flatulence tax proposed in New Zealand.

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On Tuesday (25), NASA (the American space agency) revealed that it had detected dozens of methane “super emitters” from space, places generally related to waste treatment or agriculture.

As for the continuous progression of methane concentration in the atmosphere since 2007, scientists are not sure, but they consider that “it largely comes from biogenic sources, such as swamps or rice fields”.

It is still too early to say whether the increases in 2020 and last year are due to the faster decomposition of organic matter in the water under the effect of increased heat, or to episodes of the La Niña phenomenon, which created favorable conditions for the emission of methane, as precipitation increases in tropical regions.

The secretary general of the WMO, Petteri Taalas reinforces, however, that the enemy to be defeated, above all, is carbon dioxide.

“The absolute priority is to drastically and urgently reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which are the main cause of climate change and associated extreme weather events,” warned the WMO Secretary-General, adding that these emissions will have repercussions on the climate for thousands of years with the melting of ice at the poles, warming of the oceans and rising sea levels.

(with AFP)

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