Methane+and+climate+change

__ Methane and Climate Change __ By: Joshua Gosselin, Paige Iverson


 * Methane** is a colourless, odorless gas formed from organic, decomposed matter. It's mostly composed from fermentation in ruminant animals and decay of organic material in rice paddies and landfill. It's molecular formula is CH4 and it is the principal component of natural gas (75%). Burning methane in the presence of oxygen produces carbon dioxide and water. Methane in the atmosphere becomes oxidized, which produces carbon dioxide and water. In the atmosphere, methane has a half life of 7 years.

Fund in: The abundance of methane in the Earth's atmosphere in 1998 was 1745 parts per billion, up from 700 ppb in 1750. In the same time period, CO2 increased from 278 to 365 parts per million. The [|radiative forcing] effect due to this increase in methane abundance is about one-third of that of the CO2 increase.[|[2]] In addition, there is a large, but unknown, amount of methane in [|methane clathrates] in the ocean floors. The Earth's [|crust] contains huge amounts of methane. Large amounts of methane are produced [|anaerobically] by [|methanogenesis]. Other sources include [|mud volcanoes], which are connected with deep geological faults, and livestock (primarily [|cows]) from [|enteric fermentation]. Methane is a significant contributor to [|global warming] and the [|Kyoto protocol] seeks to regulate its production. [//[|citation needed]//]

//Methane in the World's Atmosphere: These maps show the distribution of methane at the surface (top) and in the stratosphere (lower), calculated by a NASA computer model. Concentrations are shown in parts per million by volume. Methane is created near the surface, and it is carried into the stratosphere by rising air in the tropics. (Credit: GMAO Chemical Forecasts and GEOS--CHEM NRT Simulations for ICARTT (top) and NASA GSFC Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch (lower))// ([])

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