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A new report from the Global Carbon Project found that methane emissions are rising at the fastest rate in recorded history. Global concentrations of methane are now 2.6 times higher than before the industrial era, despite global pledges to limit emissions. Because methane traps about 30 times more heat than carbon dioxide, the increasing emissions could make it nearly impossible for the world to meet its climate goals.
The report finds that human-caused methane emissions grew as much as 20 percent between 2000 and 2020 and now account for about 65 percent of global emissions. The increase stems from expanding landfills, livestock production, coal mining, and increased natural gas consumption. The report also notes that human activity and climate change are increasing the amount of methane released by lakes, marshes, Arctic permafrost, and other ecosystems.
While the U.S. is not one of the primary contributors to global methane emissions, the country has still shown a broad increase in emissions. However, efforts are underway to curb these emissions: the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act included a pollution tax on methane emissions from oil and gas, the EPA announced new federal standards for methane emissions from oil and gas operations, and the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $4.7 billion for orphaned well site plugging, remediation and restoration activities.
A silver lining of the report's findings is that since humans are now the main driver of methane emissions, we can also slow or mitigate these emissions. “It’s a huge lever that we have for buying time,” said Evan Sherwin, a research scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. “If we take large-scale efforts to reduce methane emissions, we could buy ourselves decades of time to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.”
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