On Friday, the globe hit 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees) above pre-industrial levels for the first time in recorded history

  • naturalgasbad@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    32
    ·
    1 year ago

    The fact is that this was a conscious choice, even recently. The switch to natural gas that everyone is touting is one that is designed to cause higher short-term emissions.

    Methane is really bad over a 20-year time frame and only really lets natural gas equal coal over a 100-year period (assuming typical fugitive emissions rates). The transition from coal to natural gas is accelerating the rate at which we boil ourselves alive.

    • Magrath@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      Methane is burned at the point of use and produces carbon dioxide. Ideally there is no methane released in to the environment.

      • naturalgasbad@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        1 year ago

        Methane leaks

        Something like 3-10% of all methane production leaks. Methane is about 80x worse than CO2 over a 20-year period.

        • Magrath@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Oh it does for sure. At least in Canada there are government regulations requiring inspections by 3rd parties to check for leaks with some sort of thermal camera. I’m not familiar with the technology to check for leaks but I’ve had to fix the leaks before and it’s taken seriously and well documented.