Recently, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed that global emissions of methane have gone up by a colossal amount in the year 2021. Methane is a necessary element of natural gas. Most of the time, reasons for methane emissions involve oil and gas extraction, landfills and wastewater, and farming of livestock.
"Our data show that global emissions continue to move in the wrong direction at a rapid pace," stated Rick Spinrad, Ph.D., NOAA Administrator. "The evidence is consistent, alarming and undeniable. We need to build a Climate Ready Nation to adapt for what's already here and prepare for what's to come. At the same time, we can no longer afford to delay urgent and effective action needed to address the cause of the problem - greenhouse gas pollution."
Atmospheric methane levels are now around 162% higher than they were in pre-industrial times, according to NOAA. Carbon dioxide levels last at this high of a level somewhere around 4.1 to 4.5 million years ago.
As reported by the NOAA, the yearly atmospheric methane increase about a year ago amounted to around 17 parts per billion, which was the biggest amount that has been taken note of since 1983. In 2020, the increase in methane amounted to 15.3 parts per billion, and in 2021, methane levels amounted to around 1,895.7 parts per billion.
Although there has been a significant amount of disagreement regarding the exact cause of the continued increase in methane levels, carbon dioxide pollution has been an undeniably ongoing cause of people-caused climate change. About 36 billion tons of carbon dioxide have been released into the atmosphere in this year alone through human activity, and about 640 million tons of methane were released into the atmosphere throughout this same exact timeframe.
About a year ago, a report that was administered by the United Nations conveyed that significantly diminishing methane amounts is required if the worst consequences of global warming would like to be avoided. Through the reduction of methane emissions into the atmosphere up to the year 2030, they can be diminished by about 45%. In turn, this would help avoid 255,000 premature deaths as well as other types of yearly hospital visits.