Seminar

Abstract

Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted from human activities. Atmospheric methane concentrations have tripled since pre-industrial times, and this increase has contributed about 20% of the global radiative forcing due to long-lived greenhouse gases. Quantifying sources of methane is therefore necessary to inform future climate change mitigation policy. In this talk, I use airborne measurements of methane and other trace gases to quantify methane emissions from the largest emitting source sectors in the U.S. I present a quantification of methane emissions from rice agriculture in California and from the Los Angeles megacity, which includes emissions from landfills, the oil and gas industry, and livestock. I also present ongoing work which will quantify emissions from livestock in California, coal mines in Alabama, and from the Haynesville, Fayetteville, and Marcellus shale plays, three major U.S. shale gas production regions.