We have parallel climate crises today: mitigating long-term warming, as well as managing near-term warming. Greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide—with methane the largest contributor—are causing the majority of near-term warming, and are critical to rapidly cut alongside carbon dioxide in order to minimize the rate of warming, and peak temperatures we see, which impact natural system feedbacks. We must cut all possible methane emissions as quickly as possible in order to start bending the curve on warming, while heavily investing in developing missing solutions, and improving our understand and response to rising natural emissions.
The new field of methane emissions removal focuses on developing additional emissions reductions strategies for low-concentration sources, while atmospheric methane removal squarely focuses on the challenge of mitigating the impact of methane once it's in the atmosphere, from historical and elevated natural emissions.
Read MoreEnteric fermentation methane emissions—"cow burps"—account for ~25% of global anthropogenic methane emissions. Without new supply-side solutions, or a demand-side revolution, cow burps along will exceed our entire anthropogenic methane budget. Major innovation is needed.
Read MoreThere's growing evidence that natural system methane emissions are on the rise, putting our overall methane goals at risk. More work is needed in advancing measurement, modeling, and potential responses in order to incorporate this risk into our climate understanding, and work to mitigate it.
Join UsSpark co-founder Erika Reinhardt when on the Catalyst podcast to talk about two climate blind spots—methane and near-term warming—that Spark is working on.
Spark co-founder Erika Reinhardt shares Spark's view of the broader methane solution ecosystem and risks, and how we're approaching roadmapping and field-building in these spaces, in order to help accelerate overall progress towards solution development and policy support.
Spark Climate Solutions was created with support from Climate Pathfinders Foundation and The Primordium Foundation