Earth Day: The increasing role of ‘methane gas’ in making the earth warmer day by day
[ad_1]
II Report of Vivekananda Singh II
every year on 22 April world earth day is celebrated as In our country, this time has been known as the beginning of the summer season, but often you would find people saying that the heat like May-June has already started falling. We all are realizing that the temperature of our life-giving earth is gradually increasing. This is what we call ‘global warming’ or the effect of climate change.
Miscellaneous Greenhouse Gases and Methane
Generally we know that due to indiscriminate emission of green house gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor etc.) we and our earth are forced to face this challenge in the form of global warming. This is also completely true, but among these, methane is such a greenhouse gas, which, despite being in small quantities, affects the temperature of the earth more. About 40 percent of methane emissions come from natural sources and about 60 percent from man-made sources, including livestock, farming, rice, biomass burning, etc. Recently, the State of the Global Climate Report, 2022, released by the World Meteorological Organisation, states that eight years from 2015 to 2023 have been the hottest so far. In such a situation, if we do not become conscious even now, then life on earth will gradually become more painful.
There is less attention on methane emissions
methane (CH4) is an invisible gas. It is a hydrocarbon, which is a major component of natural gases. You can consider methane in the atmosphere as a much thicker blanket than carbon dioxide, which is capable of warming the earth more in a relatively short period of time. It has an immediate effect in the increasing heat on the earth. However, where carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, the good thing is that methane gas remains in the atmosphere only between 10 to 20 years. In such a situation, if concrete steps are taken towards reducing the rate of methane emission, then the problem of global warming can also be reduced. Methane emissions have generally received little attention compared to efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, despite scientific research showing that methane can trap Earth’s heat if it stays in the atmosphere for 20 years. It is about 80 to 85 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of inhibition.
Visible lack of effort in proportion to pledge
In the year 2021, at the Glasgow Climate Conference, COP-26, nearly 100 countries came together in a voluntary pledge to reduce methane gas emissions, also referred to as the Global Methane Pledge. Its objective is to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030 from 2020 levels. However, a report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) states that the emission rate of methane gas will increase by 5 to 13 percent by 2030 as compared to 2020. NASA has also identified more than 50 places around the world, using its instrument Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMITT), which emit the most methane. According to NASA, so far more than 50 largest emitters of methane gas have been identified in the countries of Central Asia, the Middle East and the Southwestern United States. Most of these are related to fossil fuel, waste or agriculture sectors.
How can methane emissions be reduced?
UN reports are also pointing out that human-made methane emissions have increased rapidly since the year 1980, which is responsible for 30 percent of the global warming since the beginning of industrialization. According to statistics, the fossil fuel sector is responsible for up to 35 percent of the total methane emissions. The rate of methane emission in this area needs to be reduced. Methane emissions can also be cut by improving sewage systems. According to the UN report, the challenge is that the possibilities to cut methane gas emissions vary from country to country and region to region.
India also has a big contribution in global warming
Recently, in a research by scientists from Europe and America published in Nature Journal, India ranks fifth among the top 10 countries contributing to global warming. USA (US) leads the list due to 0.28 °C (17.3%) rise in temperature, followed by China (12.3% rise), Russia (6.1% rise) and Brazil (4.9%). With is in fourth place. In the report, India has jumped from the 10th position in the year 2005 to the fifth position, which is worrying. India is responsible for global warming with 0.08 °C (4.8%) rise in temperature from 1850 to 2021. Increasing land use and decreasing forest area is the most important contribution in most of the countries of the world behind the increasing global warming. In such a situation, it is expected from the common citizens that you should plant more and more trees. Save the forests from being cut, so that our earth seems like heaven to us.
[ad_2]
Source link
