methane: Quick Facts

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Oct. 22, 2026

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Diagram illustrating the methane cycle, showing sources such as landfills, wetlands, fossil fuels, livestock digestion, termites, burning biomass, and melting permafrost, as well as methane sinks including oxidation by microbes in soil and seabeds, with arrows tracing methane movement through the environment and atmosphere.

Diagram of a methane molecule (CH4) showing a central carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms arranged in a regular tetrahedral shape, with dashed lines illustrating the three-dimensional structure and electron pair repulsion.

Two diagrams show the three-dimensional structure of a methane molecule: panel A uses a ball-and-stick model with a central carbon atom connected to four hydrogen atoms in a tetrahedral arrangement, while panel B illustrates the bond angle of 109.5 degrees and bond length of 1.09 angstroms between carbon and hydrogen atoms.

Figure 9: Oxidation path for methane, CH4.

Diagram showing the chemical reaction where methane (CH4) and chlorine (Cl2) combine to produce chloromethane (CH3Cl) and hydrogen chloride (HCl), with molecular structures and labels.

Understand the processes of production and emission of methane gas in wetlands

Major types of pollution explained

What are exothermic and endothermic reactions?

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Key People

Alessandro Volta

Alessandro Volta

Italian physicist