Methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in heating up Earth on a 20-year timescale. Yet, just as carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere keep rising, despite everything our governments claim they are doing to curb it, so do levels of methane. This dangerous gas is now at two and half times pre-industrial levels.
While it is known that oil and gas production, farming and degrading rubbish are the main producers of methane, scientists say most countries still estimate their output and have no accurate measurement of how much they produce. Even so, stopping known sources, such as leaky old and new oilwells, would decrease projected emissions by half by 2030, shaving 0.5C off global temperature rise by 2100.
