The greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were in balance until the first industrial revolution. Although massive volcanic eruptions did disturb them from time to time, their job was to keep global temperature in equilibrium. The system worked until a series of industrial revolutions added extra carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases to the mix.
Natural and Human Sources of Methane Emissions
Natural methane exists below ground and under the sea floor. If the gas reaches the atmosphere, it mixes with it. It also comes from wetlands, organisms in rotting landfill, the stomachs of cows, and the guts of termites. However, we don’t know whether plants are the root cause of all of this.
Human effort in livestock farming increases the amount of the gas entering the atmosphere, as does fossil fuel production. In fact, these two activities are responsible for 60% of the increase in methane greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Landfills and waste, biomass burning, rice farming, and biofuels contribute 16%, 11%, 9% and 4% respectively. So the greenhouse gas is therefore a by-product of society.
Industrial Sources of Methane Greenhouse Gase
Methane is flammable, and so we use the natural gas for heating ovens, homes, water heaters, kilns, automobiles, and turbines. It produces less carbon dioxide than any other hydrocarbon per unit of heat. Therefore, it is a better alternative to other fossil fuels.
There are industrial processes to extract it from coal, and then enrich it although this is energy intensive. Emerging technologies exist to recover excess gas from the atmosphere and then enrich it. We could theoretically use it to drive turbines when solar and wind power are unavailable.
Methane emissions and global warming are in a deadly embrace. Because it is one of the greenhouse gases that increase global warming. While global warming releases it from under melting permafrost. As humans, we can help by sending less waste to landfill sites and having less factory farms. The watchwords are fix what we have if we can, and reduce, reduce, reduce.
Related
Why We Owe Our Life to CO2 and Methane
Climate Change: Earths Greenhouse Blanket
Preview Image:Sources of Methane Natural and Human
