Methane: The Overlooked Key to Cooling Our Planet

When we talk about climate change, carbon dioxide (CO₂) usually steals the spotlight. But there’s another powerful player in the greenhouse game—methane. As per the recent report of UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe), it’s actually 80 times more potent than CO₂ when it comes to warming the planet over the short term.

Here’s the silver lining:

methane is short-lived, lingering in the atmosphere for just about 12 years. That means any action we take today could show real results in a matter of years—not decades. Tackling methane now gives us one of the fastest ways to slow global warming. Where is all this methane coming from?

Surprisingly, the answer lies in our everyday systems—agriculture, in particular. It’s responsible for about 40% of methane emissions globally. Here’s how:

Rice paddies: When rice fields are flooded, they create the perfect conditions for methane-producing microbes.

Livestock: Cows emit methane through digestion—thanks to microbes in their stomachs.

Manure: Stored animal waste becomes a methane hotspot if not managed well. Methane doesn’t just warm the planet. It also fuels ground-level ozone, a harmful pollutant that affects human lungs, crops, and ecosystems—making it a public health and food security issue too. So, how do we measure methane?

Current methods include:

Bottom-up estimates, which use average emission data (like methane per cow).

Top-down satellite data, which scans emissions from space. Sometimes, satellites show more methane than ground reports. That means we need better systems that align both views and give us a fuller picture. The good news? Solutions already exist.

Climate-smart agriculture is a practical path forward. Here are a few methane mitigation strategies already being explored:

Alternate wetting and drying in rice fields cuts methane and saves water.

Improved cattle feed, such as seaweed-based additives, lowers emissions.

Biogas digesters convert manure into clean energy, solving two problems at once. India, for instance, is moving ahead with its National Biogas Mission. While not part of the Global Methane Pledge, the country is investing in homegrown, sustainable solutions.

What’s next?

For real change, we need region-specific research and policies that work for farmers, not just numbers. South Asia, in particular, needs data that reflects its unique climate, economy, and culture.

Methane might not fix climate change alone—but it’s one of the few climate issues where science, tech, and action are already aligned. And unlike CO₂, results come fast.

It’s time we stop overlooking methane. In a warming world, it might just be our climate opportunity in disguise. Inspired by an original @Deccan herald report