Limiting the rate of global warming and ensuring human health is the need of the hour. While loading the atmosphere with carbon footprints is a practice that has been frowned upon, it is important to think of various ways of methane gas reduction too. Yes! You will learn that reducing methane emissions is often regarded as a carbon dioxide equivalent. But it is vital to understand that the impact of each gas is diverse with their effect on the environment and life on planet Earth being different as well. Sure, you must think of keeping the carbon dioxide limited to a great degree when you want to clean up the atmosphere. However, it is prudent to note that methane is the second most deadly greenhouse gas that is detrimental to life
Why is methane gas reduction so important?
Well, numerous research studies have revealed that the concentration of methane in the atmosphere has been increasing speedily of late. It is interesting to note that about 50% of such emissions come from human activities such as fossil fuel extraction, waste accumulation, and agricultural practices. Another aspect to remember is the lifetime of methane gas released into the atmosphere. Although comparatively shorter than carbon dioxide you have you take measures to decrease methane gas emissions as soon as possible to contribute effectively to lessening global warming.
Some of the primary reasons for getting the methane gas emissions controlled and minimized include the following:-
To Avoid Global Warming By 0.3% by 2045
It is amazing to learn that a majority of methane gas emissions occur due to direct human activities or intervention. Environmentalists have to be extremely careful about decreasing the emissions caused due to the following:-
- Fossil fuels 23% coming from oil and gas industries and 12% from coal industry
- Waste from landfills and wastewater
- Agriculture with 32% occurring from livestock and 8% from paddy cultivation
For the Protection of Human Health & Improve Crop Yields
Apart from marring the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas, methane also forms ground-level ozone that is capable of affecting both human and economic development adversely. Reducing around 180 million tons of methane emissions per year can prevent the following by the year 2040
- 775 000 hospital visits by asthma patients
- 255 000 premature deaths
- 26 million tons of crop losses across the globe
- 73 billion hours of lost man-hours due to extreme heat
Availability of cost-effective tools for reduction of methane gas emissions
Cutting the human source of methane emissions can go a long way in reducing the rate of global warming with temperature rise being restricted to 1.5oC. Using cost-effective tools for methane reduction in agriculture, fossil fuel, and waste management is speedy and simple too. This can decrease the amount of methane emissions substantially with 120 million tonnes per year being able to reduce 0.3oC of global warming by the end of 2045
Trying to eliminate the carbon footprints from the atmosphere is not enough. You must think of methane gas reduction to make the world more habitable for future generations.
