Climate change could be a lot worse than we even thought
by David Atkins
If this is true, it’s absolutely terrifying:
A comprehensive new study of atmospheric levels of methane, an important greenhouse gas released by leaky oil and gas operations and livestock, has found much higher levels over the United States than those estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency and an international greenhouse gas monitoring effort. The paper, “Anthropogenic emissions of methane in the United States,” is being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study, combining ground and aerial sampling of the gas with computer modeling, is the most comprehensive “top down” look so far at methane levels over the United States, providing a vital check on “bottom up” approaches, which have tallied estimates for releases from a host of sources — ranging from livestock operations to gas wells.
More study is needed on this topic, but if it’s true we are in a lot of trouble. The world is already far, far behind the reductions in emissions we need to stop runaway catastrophic climate change even at the current estimated rates of emissions.
If emissions are actually greater and faster than estimated, it’s impossible to overstate the level of alarm that needs to be raised. No other issue on the planet even comes close in importance or consequence.
If my generation turns out to be a lost generation until we die, struggling and unable to achieve the American Dream, our children will survive and help us make things better. But if we allow the climate to spin out of control until the earth is barely habitable, it will destroy of the futures of all our generations to come.
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