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> This will increase by roughly 35% ... I was a bit confused by this sentence (which is a direct excerpt from the piece). Reading the whole article, the `this`

> This will increase by roughly 35% ... I was a bit confused by this sentence (which is a direct excerpt from the piece). Reading the whole article, the `this` refers to the methane lifetime. Oddly (to me), the lifetime methane in the atmosphere increases with the amount of methane in the atmosphere. That's what the author has been working to understand. Very interesting!

rocqua 4y ago
It makes sense, if you take into account that, apparently, absorbing methane from the atmosphere depletes the atmosphere's capacity for absorbing methane. Hence the more methane that exists, the more methane is getting absorbed, the less capable the atmosphere is at absorbing methane.
- washadjeffmad 4y ago
  If I'm thinking clearly, using "absorbing" here implies that atmospheric concentrations of methane have an effect on the amount of methane that can be released. A lower absorption would then be "good" because it would slow the rate of accumulation of methane in the atmosphere. The opposite is true, that the higher the methane concentration, the lower the rate of effect would be to degrade all atmospheric methane. The rates of methane accumulation and its degradation are inversely proportional beyond the limit of the atmosphere to degrade it.
- scratcheee 4y ago
  Yeah, and to simplify further, the atmosphere's got a fixed amount of methane-removing capability, and as we exceed this capability it can't absorb methane any faster, so the ratio of methane that gets absorbed starts dropping even though the amount being absorbed doesn't drop. The reality is more complicated because the cut off is very blurry - absorbsion does still increase as methane increases, just not fast enough to keep up, and it falls further behind the more methane we put out.
- mudita 4y ago
  Which to me raises the question: Are there any possibilities to increase the absorption of methane somehow? And it seems like there are methods for capturing methane: https://news.mit.edu/2022/dirt-cheap-solution-common-clay-materials-may-help-curb-methane-emissions https://news.mit.edu/2022/dirt-cheap-solution-common-clay-ma...

rocqua 4y ago

It makes sense, if you take into account that, apparently, absorbing methane from the atmosphere depletes the atmosphere's capacity for absorbing methane. Hence the more methane that exists, the more methane is getting absorbed, the less capable the atmosphere is at absorbing methane.

washadjeffmad 4y ago
If I'm thinking clearly, using "absorbing" here implies that atmospheric concentrations of methane have an effect on the amount of methane that can be released. A lower absorption would then be "good" because it would slow the rate of accumulation of methane in the atmosphere. The opposite is true, that the higher the methane concentration, the lower the rate of effect would be to degrade all atmospheric methane. The rates of methane accumulation and its degradation are inversely proportional beyond the limit of the atmosphere to degrade it.
scratcheee 4y ago
Yeah, and to simplify further, the atmosphere's got a fixed amount of methane-removing capability, and as we exceed this capability it can't absorb methane any faster, so the ratio of methane that gets absorbed starts dropping even though the amount being absorbed doesn't drop. The reality is more complicated because the cut off is very blurry - absorbsion does still increase as methane increases, just not fast enough to keep up, and it falls further behind the more methane we put out.
mudita 4y ago
Which to me raises the question: Are there any possibilities to increase the absorption of methane somehow? And it seems like there are methods for capturing methane: https://news.mit.edu/2022/dirt-cheap-solution-common-clay-materials-may-help-curb-methane-emissions https://news.mit.edu/2022/dirt-cheap-solution-common-clay-ma...