Methane much more sensitive to global heating than previously thought – study

Greenhouse gas has undergone rapid acceleration and scientists say it may be due to atmospheric changes

Methane is four times more sensitive to global warming than previously thought, a new study shows. The result helps to explain the rapid growth in methane in recent years and suggests that, if left unchecked, methane related warming will escalate in the decades to come.

The growth of this greenhouse gas - which over a 20 year timespan is more than 80 times as potent than carbon dioxide - had been slowing since the turn of the millennium but since 2007 has undergone a rapid rise, with measurements from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recording it passing 1,900 parts a billion last year, nearly triple pre-industrial levels.