by Jules Bernstein, University of California – Riverside

https://phys.org/news/2023-04-methane-megafires-technique-pollution-policy.html

Using a new detection method, UC Riverside scientists found a massive amount of methane, a super-potent greenhouse gas, coming from wildfires—a source not currently being accounted for by state air quality managers.

Methane warms the planet 86 times more powerfully thancarbon dioxideover the course of 20 years, and it will be difficult for the state to reach its required cleaner air and climate goals without accounting for this source, the researchers said.

Wildfires emittingmethaneis not new. But the amount of methane from the top 20 fires in 2020 was more than seven times the average from wildfires in the previous 19 years, according to the new UCR study.

“Fires are getting bigger and more intense, and correspondingly, more emissions are coming from them,” said UCR environmental sciences professor and study co-author Francesca Hopkins. “The fires in 2020…