A sharp increase in methane was recorded in the Earth's atmosphere
Such a sharp spike in methane content in the Earth's atmosphere could be a sign of global climate change in the coming decades and provoke a reorganization of the entire climate system, scientists said.
In ancient times, such events marked the end of the ice ages, when the frosty expanses of the tundra were replaced by tropical forests. Studies by specialists of the Royal Holloway College in London showed that the completion of the process took place in three stages and the initial phase, just the same, was characterized by a gradual increase in the content of methane and carbon dioxide.
This was followed by a sharp increase in temperature caused by the release of methane. And during the third phase, the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere gradually leveled off. Climate change has been occurring for millennia, with the exception of the "abrupt phase", which takes only a few decades. At this time, methane emissions are increasing significantly, scientists say.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and is released both as a result of human activity and during natural processes. According to experts, in the 1980s, the level of methane in the atmosphere increased due to the expansion of the gas industry, and in the 1990s it stabilized again.
However, since 2006, the amount of methane has started to grow again, and the industrial activity of people has not changed. Since 2013, growth has accelerated, and by 2020, methane indicators began to increase at the fastest pace in history.
"The scale of such climate change is worth considering. In the past, due to the growth of methane, vast expanses of icy tundra in the Northern Hemisphere turned into tropical meadows where hippos roamed," the British scientists noted.
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