Carbon dioxide (CO2) is accused of all ills, often forgetting the role of another powerful greenhouse gas in global warming: methane (CH4). However if it remains much shorter than C02 in the atmosphere (ten years against at least a century), its "global warming power" (the unit of measurement allowing to compare the harmful effects of these gases on 100 years) is 28 times that of carbon dioxide.
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Two studies published this week in the Nature and Science journals (see box) reveal that the share of human-related fossil methane emissions, i.e. those due to petroleum operations and gas. This work, carried out by an international team led by researcher Benjamin Hmiel, from the American University of Rochester, is based on the study of air bubbles trapped in the Taylor glaciers in Antarctica and Summit in Greenland. Scientists have taken unprecedented amounts of samples
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