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How do methane leaks from pipelines and storage facilities affect global warming?

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natural gas The Troll A natural gas production platform in the North Sea, 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Bergen, Norway. Troll A, the largest movable structure ever built, rests on the seafloor some 300 metres (990 feet) below the surface and rises more than 100 metres (330 feet) above the sea. The platform regulates the recovery of gas from 40 wells located on the seafloor.

Methane leaks from pipelines and storage facilities significantly accelerate global warming because methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas.12

When methane escapes into the atmosphere, it contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation and reradiating heat back to Earth’s surface. While methane exists in lower concentrations than carbon dioxide, it is far more effective at trapping heat; its global warming potential is estimated to be 27 to 30 times greater than that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.123

Furthermore, methane leaks exacerbate climate change indirectly. As atmospheric methane concentrations rise, they deplete hydroxyl radicals—the molecules responsible for breaking down methane—which effectively extends the atmospheric lifetime of the gas. Because the extraction and processing of natural gas are major anthropogenic sources of these emissions, minimizing leaks is an essential ethical responsibility to mitigate the human impact on the global climate.12