According to a new study, the volume and proportion of the potent heat-trapping gas methane emitted by humans into the atmosphere is increasing, accelerating climate change. According to Tuesday’s report, humans released 670 Million Tons of Methane in 2020, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available, an increase of about 12% from 2000. A more noteworthy finding in the study published in Environmental Research Letters was the source of those emissions: human emissions increased by nearly 18% over two decades, while natural emissions, primarily from wetlands, increased by only 2%.

The study found that humans released 670 Million Tons of Methane, and the methane levels in the atmosphere are currently 2.6 times greater than before industrialisation. Methane levels in the atmosphere had plateaued in the early 2000s, but they are suddenly surging. Humans produce methane emissions by burning fossil fuels, engaging in large-scale agriculture, and filling landfills.

“Methane is a climate menace that the world is ignoring,” said study lead author Rob Jackson of the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists who track greenhouse gas emissions annually. “Methane has risen far more and much faster than carbon dioxide.”

According to Jackson, a climate scientist at Stanford University, carbon dioxide remains the most serious concern. Humans, mainly through coal, oil, and natural gas combustion, emit 60 times more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than methane, lasting thousands of years.

Because methane leaves the atmosphere after approximately a decade, Jackson believes it is a significant “lever” humans may employ to combat climate change. This is because cutting it could result in rather immediate advantages.

In 2000, direct human activity accounted for 60% of the methane released into the atmosphere. According to the report, it has now reached 65%.

“It’s a very worrying paper, but unfortunately, not a big surprise,” said climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, who was not involved in the research. He stated that to maintain global warming to the agreed-upon limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced by nearly half and methane emissions by more than one-third.

However, Jackson stated that the present trajectory in methane emissions puts the globe on track for a 3°C (5.4°F) warming, twice the aim of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Jackson’s research focused primarily on the location and source of the methane.

According to Jackson, human-caused methane emissions are rising worldwide except in Europe, with significant increases in Asia, particularly in China and India.

According to the report, methane emissions from coal mining, oil, and gas have climbed by 33% over the last 20 years, landfill and waste emissions have increased by 20%, and farm emissions have increased by 14%. Cows are the single largest human-connected source of emissions, according to Jackson.

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