Record surge in CO2, methane emissions despite pandemic
Carbon dioxide and methane emissions surged in 2020 even amid coronavirus shutdowns, according to research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Data collected at remote NOAA sampling locations indicated the global surface average for CO2 was 412.5 parts per million last year, a 2.6 ppm increase. The global increase rate constituted the fifth-highest on record for a single year, after 1987, 1998, 2015 and 2016, according to NOAA.
The NOAA’s sample analysis for 2020 also indicated methane’s atmospheric burden saw a significant increase in 2020. While the compound is less abundant than carbon dioxide, it is nearly 30 times more potent at trapping heat within the atmosphere.
Methane, which is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a factor in global warning, comes from using fossil fuels such as coal and gas and from microbial sources in wetlands, cows and landfill.
About 60 per cent of methane emissions are linked to human activity, while the rest arise naturally from environments such as swamps or melting permafrost.
The record CO2 levels of were expected because the gas stays in the atmosphere for up to 100 years, but the sudden increase in methane concentrations came as a surprise.
Levels of carbon dioxide rose to 412.5 parts per million during 2020, according to NOAA, about 12 per cent higher than the levels in 2000.
Carbon dioxide emissions fell about 6 per cent last year because of the pandemic but, despite the reprieve, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere still rose as emissions continued.
Cutting methane emissions can slow global warming more quickly than reducing those of carbon dioxide, he added, because methane does not stay in the atmosphere for as long.
Methane is also given off by oil and gas extraction, for example from leaks in gas pipelines.
