Environment & Ecology
In News: The Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) was launched at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
About MARS:
- A new satellite-based system to detect methane emissions and tackle them to slow climate change.
- The data-to-action platform was set up as part of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) strategy to get policy-relevant data into the right hands for emissions mitigation.
- The system will be the first publicly available global system to connect methane detection to notification processes transparently.
- It will use state-of-the-art satellite data to identify significant emission events, notify relevant stakeholders, and support and track mitigation progress.
- MARS partners will also provide technical or advisory services, such as help in assessing mitigation opportunities.
- UNEP will monitor the event location and make the data and analysis available to the public between 45 and 75 days after detection.
About Methane:
- Methane is a short-lived climate pollutant like hydrofluorocarbons and stays in the Earth’s atmosphere for a few years, unlike carbon dioxide.
- Methane is the second-most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, after carbon dioxide
- Methane is an 80 times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide at trapping atmospheric heat in the 20 years following its release.
- Methane has contributed to about one-third of the current anthropogenic greenhouse gas-driven warming.
- Major sources of Methane:
- Natural: decay of plant material in wetlands, termites, oceans, digestion of food by cattle or the seepage of gas from underground deposits.
- Anthropogenic: landfills, oil and natural gas systems, agricultural activities, coal mining, stationary and mobile combustion, wastewater treatment, and industrial processes
- India: Agriculture – 61%, Energy sector – 16.4%, waste – 19.8% (as per Global Methane tracker)
- Methane enters the atmosphere due to leaks in oil and gas industries, rearing livestock and the decomposition of waste in landfills.
- Currently, only 2 per cent of global climate finance goes to methane.
- Global methane emissions in 2030, can be reduced by 57 per cent using available strategies and technologies. This reduction can cause lower global warming by around 0.25°C in 2050 and 0.5°C by the end of the century.
Miscellaneous:
- The global mean temperature 2022 is 1.15 degrees Celsius (°C) above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, with a range of 1.02°C to 1.28°C.
- Global Methane Pledge(2021): cut methane emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030 — to keep the 1.5°C temperature limit within reach.
- India is not a part to the pledge
- Most emissions can be traced back to
- As per a WMO report, past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat.
- NASA recently found 50 “super-emitters” of methane gas in central Asia, the west Asia and the southwestern United States. Most of these sites have ties with agriculture and fossil fuel industries.
- UNEP releases the Emissions Gap Report.
Source: Down To Earth
Previous Year Question
Q.1) Which of the following statements are correct about the deposits of ‘methane hydrate’? (2019)
- Global warming might trigger the release of methane gas from these deposits.
- Large deposits of ‘methane hydrate’ are found in Arctic Tundra and under the seafloor.
- Methane in atmosphere oxidizes to carbon dioxide after a decade or two.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
