Methane and Climate Change
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Methane Is A Greenhouse Gas
Greenhouse gases are gases in earth's atmosphere that trap solar radiation and warm the atmosphere in the same way that a greenhouse increases the temperature within its bounds.
Carbon dioxide is probably the most well-known greenhouse gas and the burning of fossil fuels has led to an increase in carbon dioxide which is often blamed for human induced climate change. However, methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas; 21 times more effective at trapping solar radiation than carbon dioxide.
Human activity is increasing the production of methane as well as carbon dioxide and is potentially a major problem for the global climate.
There are a number of sources of methane.
What is Methane? It Is A Gas Isn't It?
I guess we all know that methane is a gas but here is an extract from the Wikipedia entry for Methane.
"Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. It is the simplest alkane, and the principal component of natural gas. Burning methane in the presence of oxygen produces carbon dioxide and water. The relative abundance of methane and its clean burning process makes it a very attractive fuel."
Major Sources of Methane
2. Termites.
3. Rice Paddies.
4. Landfills.
5. Melting Permafrost.
Whilst some of these sources of methane may seem natural, after a little thought it is clear that humans have had a hand in the increase of methane by all these methods.
An Inconvenient Truth
Remember, it isn't the final word on climate change, but it is an accessible book/movie to get some ideas of the issues involved.
An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
Amazon Price: $6.40 (as of 02/14/2012)
Read an inconvenient Truth by Al Gore to get an insight into the problems the world faces because of climate change. Remember, climate change is a fact; human driven global warming is a theory. This book does a good job of explaining these facts and outlining the theory although it does tend to overstate the evidence and treat the theory as fact.
An Inconvenient Truth
Amazon Price: $4.16 (as of 02/14/2012)
The movie, An Inconvenient Truth, is essentially a lecture by Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore on human driven climate change and global warming. The movie does a good job of bringing this issue to a large audience, but it should be remembered that it almost always quotes the worst possible of scenarios in order to expose the viewer to the most shocking ideas.
1. Cattle & Other Livestock As A Source of Methane.
Whilst this is a natural process, the numbers of cattle, sheep and goats on earth now are man-made. As humans have cleared forest and created pasture the demand for meat has increased and with it the numbers of methane-belching livestock. Wild ruminants also produce methane but the numbers that would inhabit the natural environments destroyed by intensively cultivated pasture would be much lower.
In this rather strange way mankind has increased the production of methane - a very powerful greenhouse gas.
As undeveloped countries become more developed, the demand for meat increases. This means that unless humans begin to eat less meat the production of methane through livestock is likely to increase.
Measures such as changing cows' diet or breeding new varieties of cattle could reduce this problem.
2. Termites - A Methane Emitting Culture
Termites produce methane in the same way as livestock; the bacteria in their gut help them break down wood and they excrete methane. In fact they excrete a lot of methane, as much as 5 litres per minute for one termite mound. But how are humans responsible for this?Well, in the same way that humans have artificially increased livestock numbers, so termite numbers have increased. As forests are logged, ideal termite habitat is created and so they thrive. At first the relationship between man and termites may seem tenuous, but this is a side effect of deforestation that rarely is discussed.
Read more about this issure here: Termites emit methane.
3. Rice Paddies
Habitats low in oxygen, such as marshy waters, have always been full of the methane-producing bacteria but the huge area under rice cultivation, which is often kept irrigated year round where naturally it would be dry for part of the year, produces huge amounts of methane and rice appears to speed up the process of venting it into the atmosphere.As the world becomes more populated and demand for rice increases, the area under rice agriculture grows, year round rice production is introduced to more regions and the amount of methane produced in this way continues to increase.
Apparently, draining the paddies once during the growing season could reduce methane emissions by 30%.
4. Landfill Sites
In the region of 30% of all waste which ends up in landfills is capable of rotting. As it rots, methane is produced - that is what can sometimes be seen burning from small chimneys at old landfill sites.In some places this methane is put to good use and pumped into houses for use as domestic gas. However, in most places around the world this does not happen; the methane gas simply seeps out into the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect 21 times more efficiently than carbon dioxide.
5. Melting Permafrost & Warming Oceans
Permafrost is ground which is permanently frozen. However, as the climate warms, either naturally or as a result of man's actions, this permafrost begins to melt. Within this permafrost is locked an enormous amount of methane; this begins to be released into the atmosphere to further increase the greenhouse effect, increasing temperature, melting more permafrost, releasing more methane - a feedback loop which runs out of control.In similar fashion, methane which is locked in the mud of the continental shelves of the oceans becomes free as the waters warm through climate change. This mud may hold trillions of tons of methane which if released would be catastrophic for the Earth's climate.
Learn More About The Issues Surrounding Climate Change
Climate Change Scepticism - Form A Balanced Opinion On Climate Change
Although many of the arguments put forward against human-induced climate change can be relatively easily countered, it is always good to get both sides of the argument before forming an opinion.
Whilst the sceptics can often use inflammatory language to argue their point, equally environmentalists are prone to overstating their case. Reading some of the following in conjunction with books supporting the human-driven climate change theory may help to form a balanced opinion.
What Is The Biggest Threat?
Alternative Energy Link List - Make Your Own Green Power
How to create your own electricity and reduce or eliminate your electricity bills.
Build a magnetic power generator for your home.
How to create your own electricity and reduce or eliminate your electricity bills.
How to make your own solar panels.
Create a magnetic generator and have free electricity forever.
Recent Blog Posts on Climate Change & Global Warming
- Cap-and-trade is working, analysts say
- ... the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation's first market-based regulatory program designed to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is working. Analysts testified before the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change in favor ...
- Debate Over Global Warming/Climate Change Heats Up
- At the heart of the new paper is an emphasis that greenhouse gases generated by human activity ? and not changes in solar activity ? are the primary force driving global warming. The study calculated the balance of energy the Earth takes in from the ...
- Why the Republican War on Science?
- In fact, the US Climate Change Research Program reported in 2009 that: Observations show that warming of the climate is unequivocal. The global warming observed over the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases.
- Fracking study sends alert about leakage of potent greenhouse gas
- A new study finds that fracking is releasing methane, a greenhouse gas, from a Colorado field at a higher rate than estimates suggested. Researchers must determine if the field is an anomaly or part of a bigger problem. By Pete Spotts, Staff writer ...
My Other Environment-based Lenses
Acknowledgements - The End Of Nature By Bill McKibben
The End of Nature
Amazon Price: $7.10 (as of 02/14/2012)
The inspiration for this lens came after reading The End of Nature by Bill McKibben, from which some of the information originated. This is an informative book about the environment, although it is slightly pessimistic about the future which can become depressing to read.
Did You Learn Anything About Methane?
Please comment here
If you have anything to say on the issue of methane as a greenhouse gas (particularly if you learned anything here) then please leave your comments here.
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RenaissanceWoman2010
Oct 23, 2011 @ 6:04 pm | delete
- Wow. I had no idea that termites and rice paddies increased methane emissions. I learned so much here. Thank you for a very informative and interesting article about methane production. *Blessed*
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Canimbill
Nov 6, 2010 @ 1:52 pm | delete
- Great Lens, many people don't realize that there are other gases besides carbon dioxide that have a huge impact on climate change and global warming. Ozone is another and warming to causes more water to enter the atmosphere in the form of water vapor which causes further warming. I have been working on local adaptation to climate change and reporting it on my blog at OneMansCarbon.com.
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HarmoniousAvenger
Jul 12, 2010 @ 9:15 pm | delete
- Do you have a scientific reference for the livestock vs. wild animals? True, we have cleared a lot of land for livestock. But we have also fenced in quite a bit of land that was once grazing land. Think of the Great Plains -- once a gigantic grazing ground for bison and pronghorn.
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nickupton
Jul 12, 2010 @ 10:18 pm | delete
- I don't have a reference for this; but whilst the Great Plains (and Steppes) would have provided homes for great herds of grazing animals, they would have been feeding on unfertilized grass at natural levels. It is quite clear to see that as nations become more developed, the demand for meat rises and more meat is raised. Meat is generally produced using intensive or semi-intensive methods whereby animals are kept on land far in excess of natural densities through a combination of fertilized pasture and supplementary feed. In addition, grazing animals have been introduced to lands where they would not naturally occur and are raised in huge numbers. The number of sheep in New Zealand alone would almost certainly equate to most if not all the natural Pronghorn numbers on the untouched Great Plains. Over 1 million Water Buffalo in Thailand are kept as work animals, tilling soil that mostly would have been unoccupied by grazing animals - the natural population would have only been a fraction, and there are far more water buffalo in other Southeast Asian nations, all populations of which are many times greater than natural numbers would be.
Whilst I am not sure if methane from livestock is a major contributor to climate change, it seems quite clear that under human intervention, the numbers of grazing animals in the world are far higher than they would be naturally.
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mitchdcba
May 13, 2010 @ 12:46 am | delete
- Probably we´ll have to wait for the changing climate to bring home the evidence bluntly. Environmental policies that are in place are being sidelined in the fight to return to growth.
climate change
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About The Lens Author
by nickupton
I have had a keen interest in wildlife and the environment since I was a small child and in 2007 I graduated with a first class honours degree in Wild... more »
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