On the atmospheric methane hysteria and alarmism

Methane is an atmospheric trace gas like CO2!

Maybe it is the fluctuations of solar activity of the sun and not these trace gases that cause global warming and cooling!

According to Google search: "Atmospheric methane concentrations reached a record high of over 1,900 parts per billion (ppb), or approximately 1.9 parts per million (ppm), in 2021, which is about 260% of pre-industrial levels" and "As of early 2026, the global average atmospheric CO2 concentration is approximately 427 parts per million (ppm), marking a roughly 50% increase since the Industrial Revolution (280 ppm)."

"Solving the mystery of a methane surge ... Methane is the second most important radiative forcing agent [???] among all the anthropogenic trace greenhouse gases, with a climate warming effect second only to carbon dioxide. Therefore, it is important to understand why its atmospheric concentration changes. Its global atmospheric abundance [???] is growing steadily but not monotonically, and the question of what factors are responsible for the variability the methane growth rate is a key one.

The long-term secular rise of atmospheric methane concentrations is, unsurprisingly, due largely to anthropogenic methane emissions from agriculture, the oil and gas industry, and waste management, which together contribute more than half of all global methane emissions. ..."

ScienceAdviser

Chinese Scientists learned how to reduce rice farming related methane emissions in China

Good news! 

Reportedly, methane is more than 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. However, "As of recent data, the atmospheric methane concentration is around 1,900 parts per billion (ppb), which is equivalent to roughly 1.9 parts per million (ppm)." (Google AI). Methane is much less of a trace gas than CO2 (about 400 ppm).

"Rice farming is an underrated [underreported] driver of climate change, responsible for roughly one tenth of global methane emissions. The problem is not the rice plants themselves, but the methane-emitting microbes (methanogens) that thrive in their flooded paddies.

A team of researchers in China has found a promising solution.

First, they identified two compounds with a significant impact on these microbes; fumarate and ethanol. The former enhanced methanogen abundance, and the latter inhibited it.

By breeding hybrid rice varieties low in fumarate and high in ethanol, they were able to reduce methane emissions by 70 percent in field trials while achieving high yields."

From the abstract:

"Methane in rice paddies is mainly produced by methanogenic communities feeding on carbon from root exudates and debris.

However, the dominant root secretion governing methane emissions is not yet identified after decades of studies, even though secreted carbohydrates and organic acids have been shown to contribute to methane emissions.

In this study, we discovered that fumarate and ethanol are two major rice-orchestrated secretions and play a key role in regulating methane emissions. Fumarate released in the rhizosphere is metabolized by microorganisms, supporting the growth of methanogenic archaea that produce methane as an end carbon product, while ethanol mitigates methane emissions through inhibition of methanogenic activity and growth as well as reducing fumarate synthesis in the rice root.

Furthermore, we elucidated the route of fumarate metabolism in the anoxic rhizospheric zone. We found that fumarate in the rice root is produced from acetate via propionate and succinate, and when released into soil directly is oxidized to propionate before conversion via acetate into methane as the end product.

The knowledge on fumarate and ethanol metabolism in rice was then used for hybrid breeding of new rice varieties with the property of low methane emission. Cultivation of these novel rice lines or employing our findings for rice cultivation managements showed up to 70% reductions in methane production from seven paddy field sites during 3 years of cultivation trials. Taken together, these findings offer great possibilities for effective mitigation of the global climatic impact of rice cultivation."

Weekly Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran - Doomslayer

Reducing methane emissions by developing low-fumarate high-ethanol eco-friendly rice (no public access)

Fossil fuel use may emit 40 percent more methane than we thought (scaremongering & demagoguery)

This was probably the most repeated and widespread scaremongering & demagoguery and Global Warming hoax perpetuating subject of the week!

At least two of these articles did not fail to mention that methane "only lingers in the atmosphere for 10 to 20 years, while CO2 can linger for hundreds of years"

The article below also mentions that it is not without serious doubts to measure historic atmospheric methane from ice cores retrieved from Greenland.

How do these propagandists scare their readers? With phrases like "The amount of methane released from geologic (rather than biological) sources is from 172 to 195 teragrams (trillions of grams) per year. Those geologic methane sources include not only the oil and gas industry, but also natural vents such as onshore and offshore gas seeps." or "Methane has about 80 times the atmosphere-warming potential of carbon dioxide"

TERAGRAMS! Are you not immediately shocked to core?


Unfortunately, the concentration of methane in the atmosphere is only about "1866 ppb [parts per billion] by 2019". To contrast this with 412 ppm (parts per million) carbon dioxide.


Fossil fuel use may emit 40 percent more methane than we thought | Science News: Ice cores suggest natural seeps release less methane than was estimated, meaning industry produces nearly all of today’s geologic methane emissions.

Blue-Green Algae Produce Methane

A junk science article produced to induce scaremongering and demagoguery! The article mentions nowhere that there are currently only about 1,900 parts per billion (ppb) methane in the atmosphere.

Blue-Green Algae Produce Methane | The Scientist Magazine®: Biological production of this greenhouse gas, once thought to be the reserve of anaerobic microbes, occurs in these widespread, photosynthesizing cyanobacteria.