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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Global emissions of methane have reached the highest levels on record. Increases are being driven primarily by growth of emissions from coal mining, oil and natural gas production, cattle and sheep ranching, and landfills.
Between 2000 and 2017, levels of the potent greenhouse gas barreled up toward pathways that climate models suggest will lead to 3-4 degrees Celsius of warming before the end of this century. This is a dangerous temperature threshold at which scientists warn that natural disasters, including wildfires, droughts and floods, and social disruptions such as famines and mass migrations become almost commonplace. The findings are outlined in two papers published July 14 in Earth System Science Data and Environmental Research Letters by researchers with the Global Carbon Project, an initiative led by Stanford University scientist Rob Jackson.
In 2017, the last year when complete global methane data are available, Earth's atmosphere absorbed nearly 600 million tons of the colorless, odorless gas that is 28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat over a 100-year span. More than half of all methane emissions now come from human activities. Annual methane emissions are up 9 percent, or 50 million tons per year, from the early 2000s, when methane concentrations in the atmosphere were relatively stable.
In terms of warming potential, adding this much extra methane to the atmosphere since 2000 is akin to putting 350 million more cars on the world's roads or doubling the total emissions of Germany or France. "We still haven't turned the corner on methane," said Jackson, a professor of Earth system science in Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth).
[...] According to Jackson and colleagues, curbing methane emissions will require reducing fossil fuel use and controlling fugitive emissions such as leaks from pipelines and wells, as well as changes to the way we feed cattle, grow rice and eat. "We'll need to eat less meat and reduce emissions associated with cattle and rice farming," Jackson said, "and replace oil and natural gas in our cars and homes."
Journal Reference:
Increasing anthropogenic methane emissions arise equally from agricultural and fossil fuel sources, Environmental Research Letters (DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab9ed2)
Previously:
(2020-06-01) Researchers Control Cattle Microbiomes to Reduce Methane and Greenhouse Gases
(2020-04-14) Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms Release More Methane Than Previously Estimated
(2020-04-08) Deep-Sea Worms and Bacteria Team up to Harvest Methane
(2020-03-06) Methane Emitted by Humans Vastly Underestimated
(2019-10-09) Sea 'Boiling' with Methane Discovered In Siberia
(2019-08-30) Fracking In U.S. And Canada Linked To Worldwide Atmospheric Methane Spike
(2019-06-19) Seaweed Feed Additive Cuts Livestock Methane but Poses Questions
(2019-05-21) Researchers Suggest Converting Methane Into Carbon Dioxide to Fight Global Warming
(2019-05-16) U.S. Methane Emissions Flat Since 2006 Despite Increased Oil and Gas Activity
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2020, @02:54AM (10 children)
There is infinite water in the oceans. Desalinization turns the water problem into an energy problem. A shortage of energy is easy to solve.
(Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Friday July 17 2020, @03:09AM (9 children)
[Citation needed]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 17 2020, @04:47AM
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Friday July 17 2020, @11:40AM (7 children)
Solar panels currently have an EROEI of between 15 to 20, and that is going up with improvements over time. The only reason we are not currently paving rooftops and spare space with solar cells is that fossil fuels are so cheap, and the solar cycle is inconvenient.
What we really need is a cheap long life (infinite cycles) battery to make solar really competitive.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday July 17 2020, @11:57AM (6 children)
Which means "A shortage of energy
iswill be easy to solve."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Friday July 17 2020, @11:30PM (5 children)
It's just supply and demand. There is no energy shortage. There is just a fossil fuel surplus at the moment, which makes other energy sources uncompetitive.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday July 17 2020, @11:44PM (4 children)
The price is low because it doesn't take into account the damage to the commons. Socialize the liabilities and almost everything becomes cheaper - until there's noone to pay even a low price because the damage to the commons drove them into extinction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Saturday July 18 2020, @07:47AM (3 children)
The finances matter, as do the externalities, but underlying it all is the relative EROIE's. Solar is 15 to 20, oil is about 100.
Investing in oil gets you five to seven times the return of investing in solar. That's slowly changing, as oil gets harder to extract and of lower quality and solar gets more effective, but there will still be a while before the crossover point.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday July 18 2020, @08:29AM (2 children)
Ignoring externalities again. So, you like better cheap gas at the pump even if your house burns down every 10 years because of bushfires?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Saturday July 18 2020, @12:41PM (1 child)
Why do you take an acknowledgement of reality as an endorsement?
I personally think we should be sticking solar panels, mini-windmills and batteries on every house and factory out there. Registration and TAC should be 80% off for electric cars. Petrol tax can go up another 50% if you like.
But I also happen to know that my preferences don't alter the real world very much, and in the real world that is not going to happen until it makes economic sense.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday July 18 2020, @02:05PM
Well, that's the problem with an universal make-believe economy: the reality gets into play and everything eventually tumbles over.
Early 2008... Remember? Universal belief of the time: "house prices never go down".
The fact that current "real world" economy doesn't take into account the externalities has and will continue to have consequences. Nastier consequences as the time passes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford