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Methane Mystery: L.A. Emitting Twice as Much as Estimated
Discovery News via ENN ^ | July 27, 2009 08:50 AM | Michael Reilly, Discovery News

Posted on 07/29/2009 3:40:27 AM PDT by Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit

The greater Los Angeles area is emitting more than double the amount of methane than previously estimated, according to a new study.

A greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide (CO2), most man-made methane (CH4) emission comes from agriculture -- rice paddies, livestock, and biomass burning are all big contributors. As a result studies have largely ignored the methane coming from urban areas, and regulatory agencies have had to rely on guesswork to fill in the gaps.

Debra Wunch of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and a team of researchers measured greenhouse gas emissions in the south coast air basin, a bowl of smoggy air that hangs over Los Angeles, its suburbs, and some 15 million inhabitants.

According to the latest estimate by the California Air Resources Board, human activity in the basin should only emit about 260,000 tons of methane each year. But after taking readings from August 2007 through June 2008, the team found that the annual rate was much higher: some 600,000 tons.

Much of the area's electricity comes from burning natural gas, which is almost entirely made up of methane. Approximately 10.5 million tons of natural gas was shipped into the south coast air basin in 2006; if two to three percent of that is leaking into the atmosphere, it could account for a large part of the discrepancy.

"If it's coming from a few potent leaks, one could hope to put a plug in it," Paul Wennberg also of California Institute of Technology, and a co-author on the study due to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters said. "This stuff is valuable. If you can get enough of it, you want to burn it."

The excess gas could also be trickling out of cars' exhaust pipes, landfills or sewage treatment plants.

Worldwide, the human activity and natural processes like ocean methane seeps and wetlands decomposition combine to emit approximately 582 million tons of methane each year. If cities around the world have similar methane emission patterns as Los Angeles, the team estimates urban areas could account for as much as 10-15 percent of that total.

"The hope is that the processes operating in California may be happening in other cities around the world," Amy Townsend-Small of the University of California, Irvine said. "If so, this model will be applicable in cities around the world."

Determining how much methane cities give off -- and the sources responsible -- are crucial steps toward controlling emissions in the future. Ultimately, getting a handle on methane emissions could go a long way toward limiting the effects of global warming.


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: airquality; environment; losangeles; methane; michaelmoore; science
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To: IronJack

If there was only a way to capture and store this potential “Green” energy source...

Ahhhhnollddd should check into this...


61 posted on 07/29/2009 5:46:55 AM PDT by stevie_d_64 (Ninja of the nasty!)
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To: angkor

They delayed the re construction of L.A. High School for years because of the methane leaking to the surface.

It never hurt a kid for 74 years or so in the current school but according to the enviro whackos it was going to kill the now.


62 posted on 07/29/2009 5:47:10 AM PDT by dalereed
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To: IronJack
What makes CH4 “25 times more powerful” than CO2? The CH4 molecule when exposed to the Infrared radiation either absorbs it and/or reflects it back, in effect functioning as a blanket. It is, according to the EPA and many other well-respected organizations 25 times more effective at doing this than CO2.

I am not a professional chemist or physicist, so I do not feel myself qualified to comment on the tests results that have led to this conclusion. But, since it is not a commentary on climate change, but rather on the fundamental behaviour of substances when exposed to Electromagnetic radiation, I do not see how it can be a political issue. It is something that can be easily tested and reproduced in a laboratory according to the scientific method.

63 posted on 07/29/2009 5:53:24 AM PDT by Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit (Using profanity gives people who don't want information from you an excuse not to listen.)
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To: Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit
"Methane Mystery: L.A. Emitting Twice as Much as Estimated"

~ The only bad air around here is you guys fartin' around.~ Roy Neary

64 posted on 07/29/2009 5:55:11 AM PDT by Mad Dawgg (will work for bailout bonus.... Twitter: maddawggmorgan)
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To: mewzilla
As a result studies have largely ignored the methane coming from urban areas, and regulatory agencies have had to rely on guesswork to fill in the gaps.

Snort.

65 posted on 07/29/2009 5:59:15 AM PDT by mewzilla (In politics the middle way is none at all. John Adams)
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To: Recon Dad

Damn! I was reading that and laughing out loud so my wife came in to see what I was laughing at. She started laughing and we both had tears rolling. I forwarded it to my kids. Thanks for a really good laugh.


66 posted on 07/29/2009 6:00:15 AM PDT by saganite (What would Sully do?)
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To: Ratman83

By not recognizing the difference between science and politics you are doing the work of those who wish to portray deniers as ignorant bumpkins for them.

Do you not understand that science can test, measure and verify that when a given substance is exposed to electromagnetic radiation it behaves in a certain manner i.e. it reflects or absorbs heat?

To claim that this substance has a certain affect on the global climate when present in a certain amount is something completely different because it cannot be tested, verified or reproduced idenpendently.

By claiming that an independently reproducable scientific result is political and or junk, you are showing you have very little understanding of science and are merely taking your climate change position based on political persuasion and not on any real thinking you have done about it.


67 posted on 07/29/2009 6:02:26 AM PDT by Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit (Using profanity gives people who don't want information from you an excuse not to listen.)
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To: mewzilla
Interesting link from the LAT, circa 1990...

Panel Urges Detectors at Gas Leak Site - Methane: City task force recommends that a requirement for the sensors and other safety measures be rigidly enforced in a 400-block risk zone near the Farmers Market.

68 posted on 07/29/2009 6:08:00 AM PDT by mewzilla (In politics the middle way is none at all. John Adams)
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To: saganite

That’s the reaction it always gets. It really came from a buddy in Texas years ago and every so often I’ll pull it out and laugh exactly like you did.


69 posted on 07/29/2009 6:08:38 AM PDT by Recon Dad ( MARSOC DAD)
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To: Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit
Los Angeles used to have significant oil production. My guess is that there are still natural seeps all over the basin, just as there are oil seeps up and down the California coast. When Juan Cabrillo first saw that coast, he described the rocks along Santa Barbara as black with oil.

Drilling the oil reduces the seeps BTW.

70 posted on 07/29/2009 6:13:07 AM PDT by Carry_Okie (They were the Slave Party then; they are the Slave Party now.)
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To: Recon Dad; tx_eggman
For those of you who have lived in Texas, you know how true this is. They actually have a Chili Cook-off about the time the Rodeo comes to town. It takes up a major portion of the parking lot at the Astrodome

Those of us who actually live in Texas, and have actually stood in sleet, in rain, and in sweltering heat, all in the same weekend, in the parking lot of the Astrodome and now Reliant Stadium, know that there is NO chili contest. It is a BBQ Contest - ribs, brisket, and chicken.

Come in from SC next March, and I'll introduce you.
71 posted on 07/29/2009 6:23:42 AM PDT by SpinnerWebb (mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves)
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To: Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit

Show me the science. All the enviromentalist have is a computer model. The can not and will not show science that backs up the claims.

Stating that because UV radiation warms CO2 does not prove that man has increased CO2. Where did the CO2 come from?
Additionally was the sun cycle taken into account, ie did the sun cause more CO2?

Science is to hard for the warmers to use, they just want to use Polotics and fear.


72 posted on 07/29/2009 6:38:00 AM PDT by Ratman83
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To: Ratman83

They can not and will not show the science that backs up the claims


73 posted on 07/29/2009 6:39:53 AM PDT by Ratman83
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To: angkor; Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit; OKSooner; honolulugal; Killing Time; Beowulf; Mr. Peabody; ...
Nice try on the pseudo-science amigo!

This just in from La Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara:
The methane generation situation is caused by many unknown bacteria species (Generic Name: Bacterium Tacophilium) that use as their host Tacos, Burritos, Frijoles Refritos, Enchiladas, Chalupas, Arroz, y Cerveza Dos Equis, which are activated in the human lower intestine and when released, silently or otherwise, then combine with the exhaust gases from lead-boostered LA Gas burned in a carburetted, oil-burning Chevy 350 from 1972, emitted from low-riding modified vehicles onto hot asphalt.

Any one who has ever visited our quaint and colorful neighbors to the south in their homeland will recognize the aroma immediately. Next time you are in Mexico City or even Tijuana, open the window, and if you dare, take a deep breath. ¡Es México! This low-level gas attack is a small, but key part of the The Big Plan .,,,,Aztlán!

Send my Nobel Prize for Chemistry out with my next SS Check. I promise to share it with my collaborators South of the Border.

74 posted on 07/29/2009 6:44:45 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Congratulations Obama Voters! You are not prejudiced. Just unpatriotic. And dumb.)
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To: Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit

Remember, the fact that CO2 warms the planet is clearly established. ................

Denying the basic science behind the chemistry is akin to claiming the earth is flat.


That makes me a flat earther. Your basic chemistry needs adjustment.


75 posted on 07/29/2009 6:49:36 AM PDT by PeterPrinciple ( Seeking the truth here folks.)
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To: SpinnerWebb; Recon Dad
Recon .. this would be what you're being invited to:

This would be Spinner's group, see if you can spot him ..


76 posted on 07/29/2009 6:52:39 AM PDT by tx_eggman (Clinton was our first black President ... Obama is our first French President.)
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To: Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit

There is a recession....we need more grant money

Estimates based on pulling numbers from your butt can be refined by more butt searching


77 posted on 07/29/2009 6:56:47 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . fasl el-khitab)
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To: Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit

Maybe it it all that SMUG coming from the Hollywood elete. Remember, SMUG producers farts don’t stink!


78 posted on 07/29/2009 7:03:33 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit

Gee, the mecca of the ‘green’ movement has more methane than estimated? A lot of jokes come to mind. Maybe it’s the La Brea tar pits, and they can relax.


79 posted on 07/29/2009 7:05:40 AM PDT by fortunecookie (Please pray for Anna, age 7, who waits for a new kidney.)
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To: angkor

You beat me to it! I was thinking the same thing.


80 posted on 07/29/2009 7:07:41 AM PDT by fortunecookie (Please pray for Anna, age 7, who waits for a new kidney.)
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