IPCC Warns Methane Traps Much More Heat Than We Thought

[GliderGuider]

IPCC Warns Methane Traps Much More Heat Than We Thought

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that methane (CH4) is far more potent a greenhouse gas than we had previously realized.

We’ve known for a long time that methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2), which is released when any hydrocarbon, like natural gas, is burned.

But the IPCC’s latest report, released Monday, reports that methane is 34 times stronger a heat-trapping gas than CO2 over a 100-year time scale, so its global-warming potential (GGWP) is 34. That is a nearly 40% increase from the IPCC’s previous estimate of 25.

Amazingly, the EPA has been using a GWP of 21 for its estimate of how methane compare to carbon dioxide — a figure that is nearly twenty years out of date. That means methane is a whopping 60% stronger than EPA calculates in its GHG inventory. Back in April, EPA finally said it was thinking about raising the GWP — to 25!

[phantom power]

1. more potent than expected

[NickB79]

2. Well, that's that, eh?

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