Global methane levels move upward again

Methane levels in the atmosphere have started to rise after almost eight years of near-zero growth, an international study says.

And the increase may lead to an acceleration of global warming, the scientists behind the study warn.
Dr Paul Fraser of the CSIRO, who co-authored the study that appears in Geophysical Research Letters, says samples taken from 12 stations across a global network showed a trend upwards in methane levels.

“After seven years [of zero growth] methane has started to rise again to growth rates of the early 1990s,” Fraser says.

The chief research scientist in the Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research says the increase in methane could lead to an acceleration in global warming.

“If methane concentrations continue to grow at the current rate then it will be once again the second-most important greenhouse gas to control after CO2 over the next few decades,” he says.

Fraser says methane accounts for about 20% of all greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution.

ABC Australia