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> Methane has a greenhouse potential 25 times that of CO2. True, although it decays to CO2 and water after about twelve years [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.or

• marvin 10y ago
  First time I've heard that methane decays so fast. Doesn't this dramatically reduce the practical warming effect of methane?
  • contravariant 10y ago
    It does, but according to the Wikipedia article the '25 times' figure seems to have taken that into account. Methane has a 25 times (or 34 times according to more recent estimates) larger effect than an equivalent mass of CO2 over 100 years. When measured over the first 20 years this rises to 70~80 times.
• zamalek 10y ago
  At least there's a ray of hope. The problem is that we don't know how much CH4 is locked away in pockets like this.
• strommen 10y ago
  The factor of 25 is over a 100-year time period, and accounts for this decay.