14 DAY TRIAL // In a recent paper in the journal Nature, a team of researchers argue that, as our planet warms, there will be one very important thing – a thing other than where to get the best air conditioning unit from – to worry about. Thus, they say that, the warmer planet Earth gets, the more methane emissions will be released.
In their paper, the researchers detail that, as popular and as feared as carbon dioxide might be, methane is much worse. They explain that, although it does not get to make headlines and pose for the cover of one magazine or another all that often, methane is way more potent than carbon dioxide is.
In fact, Eureka Alert tells us that this chemical compound has been documented to be a heat-trapping gas about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide is. This means that having more of it floating above our heads will further fuel global warming.
The specialists with the Princeton University who authored the paper in the journal Nature explain that, presently, lake sediment and freshwater wetlands represent the chief source of methane emissions on our planet. More precisely, microorganisms that inhabit such sources are the ones that produce said chemical compound while busy feeding.
The Princeton University scientists say that, according to their investigations into the matter at hand, an increase in the temperature that they are exposed to is bound to push these microorganisms into overdrive when it comes to coughing out methane emissions.
After compiling and analyzing data concerning 1,600 measurements of temperature and methane emissions at 127 freshwater ecosystems located in various regions across the world, the researchers found that, when compared to emissions at 0 degrees Celsius, those at 30 degrees Celsius were 57 times higher.
Hence, it was concluded that, for each degree of warming that planet Earth might experience, the amount of methane entering the atmosphere could up several times. This phenomenon will likely further contribute to global warming.
“The freshwater systems we talk about in our paper are an important component to the climate system. There is more and more evidence that they have a contribution to the methane emissions. Methane produced from natural or manmade freshwater systems will increase with temperature,” said study co-author Cristian Gudasz.
Together with the other specialists who worked on this study, Cristian Gudasz recommends that studies intended to roll out climate predictions take into account how methane emissions originating from freshwater systems can influence global temperatures.