Methane : Data
Satellite data processed by Carbon Mapper shows that 15 of the world’s top 25 methane emission sites in 2025 from the oil and gas sector were in Turkmenistan.
- Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, responsible for about 30% of the global temperature rise since the Industrial Revolution.
- Its atmospheric concentration is now 2.5 times higher than in the preindustrial era and is rising faster than other greenhouse gases.
- It is the primary component of natural gas and a byproduct of fossil fuel exploration.
- It is 86 times more efficient at trapping heat over a 20-year-period than carbon dioxide.
- The three major anthropogenic sources of methane emissions are agriculture, energy, and waste sectors
- It is a colourless, odourless, and highly flammable gas, also known as marsh gas.
- Although it remains in the atmosphere for a shorter period — about 12 years — than carbon dioxide,
- It traps far more heat in the near term, making it a key driver of short-term climate change, contributing 28 times more to global warming than carbon dioxide for every tonne.
