Study: COVID Lockdowns Linked to Record Methane Surge
Methane growth doubled to about 40 million tonnes per year from 2020 to 2022 due to reduced hydroxyl radicals from lower nitrogen oxide emissions and wetter wetlands, study finds.
- On Thursday, a Science study found COVID-19 lockdowns cut nitrogen oxides , weakening the atmosphere's self-cleaning chemistry and triggering methane growth from about 20 million to about 40 million tonnes per year in 2020–2022.
- A decline in nitrogen oxides reduced hydroxyl radicals , the atmosphere's main methane sink, explaining roughly 80–83 percent of methane variation from 2020–21 to 2022–23.
- Amid La Niña-driven wet conditions, a team of 41 scientists used NOAA measurements and GOSAT satellite data to model methane trends, attributing the surge to wetlands and inland waters expansion.
- Peng warned that ongoing NOx declines as countries electrify could reaccelerate methane growth, while nearly 160 countries under the Global Methane Pledge must factor these chemistry effects and cut leaks from oil and gas production.
- Scientists caution that uncertainty in hydroxyl radicals measurement could call the study's attribution into question, while rising wetlands and inland waters emissions must inform future mitigation planning.
35 Articles
35 Articles
Ars Technica
technewstube.comCOVID-19 cleared the skies but also supercharged methane emissions
Less pollution meant lower amounts of a methane-destroying chemical.
Between 2020 and 2022, methane levels in the air increased unusually rapidly. A large study has revealed complex and surprising causes. They are important to test promises that methane emissions would be reduced.
Methane surge in 2020 was linked to lower pollution during lockdowns
A change in atmospheric chemistry during the covid pandemic resulted in methane concentrations spiking, raising concerns that cleaning up pollution could have similar knock-on effects in the future
Scientists explain why methane spiked in the early 2020s
A combination of weakened atmospheric removal and increased emissions from warming wetlands, rivers, lakes, and agricultural land increased atmospheric methane at an unprecedented rate in the early 2020s, an international team of researchers report today in the journal Science.
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