NASA Deciphers Massive Methane Emissions Through Space Observation Studies

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Scientists from space have been able to capture raw imagery that shows massive methane emissions from Central Asia, the Middle East, and the south-western US


NASA has reportedly spotted Iran and Turkmenistan as the ‘super emitters’ of methane gas, a recent report has suggested. While on one side the hole in the ozone layer is reducing, on the other hand, methane usage can lead to devastating effects on the environment all together.

 

The gas is one of the main drivers of climate change, accounting for about 30 per cent of global warming since the pre-industrial era. NASA scientists are gathering this data through space observations and their revelations have also identified sites in the US as well.

 

As of now, some 50 such spots have been discovered by NASA through the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source (EMIT) mission. This mission has identified areas in  

Central Asia, the Middle East, and the south-western US. Most of them are connected to the fossil fuel, waste or agriculture sectors.

 

The observations have discovered some 12 plumes- some running for more than 32 kilometers and instrumental in spreading the methane related pollution. “Some of the plumes EMIT detected are among the largest ever seen — unlike anything that has ever been observed from space,” said Andrew Thorpe, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) research technologist leading the EMIT's methane studies.

 

Even in New Mexico, the Permian Basin that is considered one of the largest oilfields in the world has shown a plume of 3.3 kilometres, emitting approximately 18,000 kilograms of methane per hour into the atmosphere.


Worst is the Turkmenistan plumes that emit around 50,400kg of methane per hour and the Iranian plume 8,500kg. To put this in perspective, one of the four Nord Stream pipeline leaks is kicking out 22,920kg of methane per hour and originally had a plume of 520 metres.

The WMO's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin found the biggest year-on-year jump in methane concentrations in 2021 since systematic measurements began nearly 40 years ago recently.

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