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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Damian Carrington Environment editor

Revealed: the world’s worst mega-leaks of methane driving global heating

Satellite image showing the thermal imprint of a methane plume
Satellite image of a methane plume in Esenguly, Turkmenistan, with an estimated leakage rate of 18 tonnes/hour. Illustration: Carbon Mapper

The world’s worst mega-leaks of the potent greenhouse gas methane in 2025 have been revealed by an analysis of satellite data.

The super-polluting plumes from oil and gas facilities have a colossal heating impact on the climate but often result from poor maintenance and can be simple to fix. The assessment found dozens of mega-leaks, each having the same global heating impact as a coal-fired power station.

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