Methane levels in the air are going up faster than ever before. This is bad news for the planet’s temperature.
Methane is a strong greenhouse gas that traps heat in the air. It’s about 30 times better at this than carbon dioxide over 100 years.
The rise in methane comes from many places. Landfills are getting bigger and making more gas.
Farms have more cows, which burp out methane. Coal mines are digging up more, and people are using more natural gas.
These human activities now make up at least a third of all methane releases each year.
Even nature is adding to the problem because of human actions. Lakes and swamps are putting out more methane.
This happens when farm runoff and town waste feed the tiny life in these waters. Warmer air and more carbon dioxide also help these tiny beings make more methane.
Dams are a big surprise source. The lakes behind dams trap plant stuff that would normally flow to the sea.
This trapped material rots and makes almost as much methane as all the rice fields in the world.
Many countries promised to cut methane by 30% by 2030. But so far, only the European Union has really lowered its methane output.
In fact, methane has gone up 5% more from 2020 to 2023. China, southern Asia, and the Middle East had the biggest jumps.
Scientists are worried. If methane keeps rising this fast, it will be very hard to keep the Earth from getting too hot.
But there’s hope. New satellites can spot exactly where methane is coming from.
This could help push people to cut their methane releases and slow down the warming of our planet.
