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ATMOSPHERESatellite data finds landfills are methane ‘super emitters’BENGALURU, India CAP) — Landfills are releasing far more planet-warming methane into the atmosphere from the decomposition of waste than previously thought, a study suggests.Scientists used satellite data from four major cities worldwide — Delhi and Mumbai in India, Lahore in Pakistan and Buenos Aires in Argentina — and found that emissions from landfills in 2018 and 2019 were 1.4 to 2.6 times higher than earlier estimates.The study, published in Science Advances on Wednesday, is aimed at helping local governments carry out targeted efforts to limit global warming by pinpointing specific sites of major concern.When organic waste like food, wood or paper decomposes, it emits methane into the air. Landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions globally, after oil and gas systems and agriculture.Although methane only accounts for about 11% of greenhouse gas emissions and lasts about a dozen years in the air, it traps 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide does. Scientists estimate that at least 25% of today’s warming is driven by methane from human actions.“This is the first time that high-resolution satellite images have been used to observe landfills and calculate their methane emissions,” said Joannes Maas-akkers, lead author of the study and atmospheric scientist at the Netherlands Institute for Space Research.The Associated PressA person picks through trash for reusable items as a fire rages at the Bhalswa landfill in New Delhi on April 27.“We found that these landfills, which are relatively small compared to city sizes, are responsible for a large fraction of total emissions from a given area,” he said.Satellite data to detect emissions is still a relatively new field,but it’s being used more and more to observe gases across the world. It means more independent organizations are tracking greenhouse gases and identifying big emitters, whereas previously local government figures were the only source available.
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Traverse City Record Eagle
Traverse City, Michigan, US
Thu, Aug 11, 2022
Page 16
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Alexander W.
NA, 15 Jun 2024
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