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Yes, but in the meantime, methane retains heat 84 times as efficiently as CO2, to the point where even though there is still 200x as much CO2 as methane in the

Yes, but in the meantime, methane retains heat 84 times as efficiently as CO2, to the point where even though there is still 200x as much CO2 as methane in the atmosphere, methane still accounts for roughly a quarter of all global warming.

Retric 11y ago
If global warming was a short term problem or if this was going to continue indefinably then sure. But, in 10 years this is the same as an extra 2,000 cars for 10 years. 2,000 * 10 * 84 = 1.7 million cars for 1 year. Methane basically forces you to see future climate change effects today. But, it's the ever compounding release of CO2 that's the long term problem without an obvious solution. PS: IMO diluting focus is an issue. If two things are bad there is a tendency to stop thinking a that point. Even if knowing which one is 100x worse is very important.
- sitkack 11y ago
  Meanwhile the extra 10 years of 84x heat capture has powered the warming positive feedback cycle. Elevated temps put more moisture into the air, raise the temp, the raised temp causes trapped methane in the arctic to enter the atmosphere. The atmosphere (and the oceans) aren't a balance sheet.
  - Retric 11y ago
    Your vastly overstating effects. At 84x this may cause the next year to be ~1 hours worth of extra CO2 ahead, but that delta is going to drop down over time. (980 million cars in the world / 1.7 = 1:576, transportation is 30% of CO2, not sure what % is cars but 50% = 1:6,405 = 44 minutes:1year ) It's like saying a stunt jumper hit the ground sooner because they carried a camera on the trip. Yes, they might have been 'ok' for a few extra Nano seconds, but that's not why the parachute failed to deploy. PS: For scale, if everyone in the US drove a Prius it would help and be useful, but not stop global warming.
    - sitkack 11y ago
      I am aware that in the grand scheme of things, this "spill" is a drop in the bucket. It is also bullshit. If we are to reverse, not just stop global warming, we have to pull some serious magic out of our ass immediately. Thermal runaway in imminent.

Retric 11y ago

If global warming was a short term problem or if this was going to continue indefinably then sure. But, in 10 years this is the same as an extra 2,000 cars for 10 years. 2,000 * 10 * 84 = 1.7 million cars for 1 year. Methane basically forces you to see future climate change effects today. But, it's the ever compounding release of CO2 that's the long term problem without an obvious solution. PS: IMO diluting focus is an issue. If two things are bad there is a tendency to stop thinking a that point. Even if knowing which one is 100x worse is very important.

sitkack 11y ago
Meanwhile the extra 10 years of 84x heat capture has powered the warming positive feedback cycle. Elevated temps put more moisture into the air, raise the temp, the raised temp causes trapped methane in the arctic to enter the atmosphere. The atmosphere (and the oceans) aren't a balance sheet.
- Retric 11y ago
  Your vastly overstating effects. At 84x this may cause the next year to be ~1 hours worth of extra CO2 ahead, but that delta is going to drop down over time. (980 million cars in the world / 1.7 = 1:576, transportation is 30% of CO2, not sure what % is cars but 50% = 1:6,405 = 44 minutes:1year ) It's like saying a stunt jumper hit the ground sooner because they carried a camera on the trip. Yes, they might have been 'ok' for a few extra Nano seconds, but that's not why the parachute failed to deploy. PS: For scale, if everyone in the US drove a Prius it would help and be useful, but not stop global warming.
  - sitkack 11y ago
    I am aware that in the grand scheme of things, this "spill" is a drop in the bucket. It is also bullshit. If we are to reverse, not just stop global warming, we have to pull some serious magic out of our ass immediately. Thermal runaway in imminent.