Climate Changed
NASA Flew Gas Detectors Above California, Found ‘Super Emitters’
- A handful of sites account for most of California’s methane
- Researchers published their survey findings in a Nature report
A methane plume captured at an oil field in California.
Source: California Air Resources Board
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Over the course of three years, NASA flew a plane carrying gas-imaging equipment above California and made a discovery that surprised even the state’s own environmental agencies: A handful of operations are responsible for the vast majority of methane emissions.
In a report published in Nature on Wednesday, scientists estimated that 10% of the places releasing methane -- including landfills, natural gas facilities and dairy farms -- are responsible for more than half of the state’s total emissions. And a fraction of the 272,000 sources surveyed -- just 0.2% -- account for as much as 46%.