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What's That Smell?

  • shriyadwivedi186
  • Mar 1
  • 3 min read
Aerial view of a small boat on a green lake surrounded by dense patches of reeds and grass. Calm, natural setting with patterns of vegetation.

We all know the dreadful and nose scrunching smell produced from swamps and bogs. However, the methane produced from them is far more devastating to our atmosphere and global warming. Although we all know that methane itself is an extremely large part of emissions, we tend to focus on how industrial and man-made efforts are the greatest cause of the growing percentage of methane- but due to global warming, now our own natural and wild landscapes are the forefront of its emissions. Despite all of these concerns, much mystery surrounds our knowledge around methane and how we can lessen its production.


The Shocking Stink


What even is methane? Methane is a hydrocarbon produced wetlands and human operations such as oil and gas leakages as well as landfills and livestock. The greenhouse gas typically gets mass produced in waterlogged and oxygen-deficient that can lead to soil decomposition.


However, with growing temperatures, the chemical reactions that natural microbes and bacteria produce methane from get sped up, causing their molecules to gain enough kinetic energy to surpass the reaction's activation energy- essentially mass producing methane at a extremely high rate. These emissions levels are surpassing that of man-made industries such as coal and oil. According to the Global Methane Budget, "wetlands produce between 180 and 400 million metric tons of methane annually while oil and gas operations and coal mining release between 120 and 133 million metric tons per year." The clear gap in gas emissions should have resulted in clearer methods to measure the gas and even solutions to remove it, right? Well, it's not as finite as we think.


Current Methods to Measure Methane


  1. One way we can measure super emitters such as methane is through imaging satellites that identify its spectral "fingerprint" in the sunlight that is reflected from Earth's surface.


  1. Currently, in New Orleans, researchers are also injecting a radioactive particle into a sealed vial with swamp mud to trace the methane from microbes to soil to air.


From: New York Times & Proceedings From the National Academy of Sciences
From: New York Times & Proceedings From the National Academy of Sciences

However, there's still much mystery surrounding exactly how stored carbon in mud can produce methane back into the atmosphere. This lack of knowledge is crucial for us to understand as emissions are increasing at an alarming rate.


How Can We Bridge This Gap?


Well, since methane is a natural gas, the only way scientists can offset the emissions is by pushing to reduce industrial emissions. This will slow down the methane feedback loop between wetlands and factories as the consequent rising temperatures trigger the release of methane from natural lands as well.


As of expanding our understanding of methane emissions and its precursor, many are adopting AI satellite, and drone technology to track the gradual increases in different areas and trying to correspond it to the local weather during the time period. The potential association may help us figure out where we should concentrate efforts on reducing emissions to prevent further bursts of methane into the atmosphere.


In classrooms, we are taught simple facts about methane- that it is a large part of greenhouse emissions and that they are generated through agricultural and natural practices and environments. However, in truth, the scientific world is still unsure about the origins of methane and how it can get produced other than correlations and trends. We must take the time to explore and support as much research on methane removal and tracking to understand more about our natural landscapes' role in greenhouse gas and what we can do to ensure removal without disruption to the natural world.



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