Is 'So Bang-gwi' More Dangerous Than Car Exhaust? [Reading Science]

Recent Methane Gas Concentration Triples Compared to Pre-Industrial Levels
Microbial Emissions Account for 85% of the Surge, Exceeding Human Activity Contributions
Warming Alters Natural Ecosystems, Raising Concerns of a Feedback Loop Accelerating Climate Change

▲A new species of methanogen has been discovered in domestic Korean cattle. This is expected to help reduce "cow burps," the main source of methane gas.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Methane gas emitted from cow farts and microorganisms in swamp areas has been found to have had a much greater impact on the recent sharp increase in methane gas concentration in the Earth's atmosphere over the past decade. Concerns are rising that the tropical climate zones are expanding due to human-induced global warming, increasing the productivity of microorganisms and thus accelerating a vicious cycle of warming.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced on the 9th that the global atmospheric methane concentration has surpassed 1900 ppb (1900 methane molecules per billion air molecules). This is three times the level compared to the pre-industrial era. The global methane concentration trend was declining until around 2000. However, since 2007, it has suddenly started to increase rapidly without a clear reason. Methane gas is especially noteworthy because its warming effect is 28 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas.

Scientists are particularly concerned that the accumulated global warming so far has solidified into a mechanism that induces more methane gas emissions, making it increasingly difficult to curb temperature rises.

Yuan Nisbett, a professor of Earth Sciences at the University of London, UK, stated, "Methane levels are rising at a dangerously rapid pace," adding, "The accelerated increase in methane emissions over the past few years poses a significant threat to global efforts to limit the average global temperature rise to within 1.5 to 2.0 degrees Celsius compared to industrialization."

The rapid increase in methane gas is presumed to be caused by factors such as ▲ expansion of oil and natural gas development ▲ increased emissions from landfills ▲ growth in livestock farming ▲ increased microbial activity in wetlands, but scientists have not provided a definitive answer.

There is a clue. Most carbon on Earth is C-12, but methane molecules contain the heavier isotope C-13. Methane gas produced by microorganisms in natural ecosystems, such as cow burps or farts, contains less C-13 compared to methane generated by Earth's internal heat and pressure or methane from fossil fuel extraction. Scientists have been analyzing methane gas trapped in ice or snow samples frozen for decades to centuries to identify the cause of the sharp increase in methane concentration. Until 2007, the amount of methane containing C-13 had been increasing for about 200 years since the Industrial Revolution, meaning that methane artificially produced by human industrial activities exceeded that produced by ecosystems.

However, since the atmospheric methane concentration began to surge in 2007, the proportion of artificial methane containing a high amount of C-13 has started to decrease. Some researchers interpret this phenomenon as due to an increase in methane emissions from microorganisms. In particular, NOAA's recent research team reported that 85% of the rapid increase in methane concentration since 2007 is attributed to microbial emissions, with only 15% coming from fossil fuels.

Scientists are concerned that the ongoing global warming may have created a system where natural ecosystems change and accelerate warming autonomously despite human efforts. They suggest that methane gas generated by human industrial activities is warming the Earth, leading to an expansion of tropical swamp areas and increased methane emissions from natural ecosystems. Shin Ran, an atmospheric scientist at NOAA's Earth Monitoring Research Institute, said, "This is a very important signal, indicating that human industrial activities alone are not responsible for the rapid increase in methane concentration," adding, "There is no definitive answer yet to the critical question of whether warming causes more warming, but the situation strongly suggests that it does."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.