UN Reveals Advanced Satellite To Monitor Methane Emission Hotspots

A new satellite-based system was revealed by the UN to detect methane emissions and enable businesses and governments to take action as part of the global effort to prevent climate change. The UNEP International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) established the Methane Alert and Response System (MARS), which was unveiled at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, to provide policy-relevant data for emissions mitigation. Strong greenhouse gas methane represents at least 25% of the current cause of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that methane emissions must be decreased by at least 30% by 2030 in order to stay within the 1.5°C temperature limit. The Global Methane Pledge has set this as its goal. [caption id="attachment_61767" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Image: Mario Tama/Getty Images[/caption] MARS, which was developed as part of the Global Methane Pledge Energy Pathway and received its initial funding from the US government, the European Commission, the Global Methane Hub, and the Bezos Earth Fund, will enable UNEP to confirm the emissions that company owners disclose. Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP, stated in a news release that "the world is well off track on measures to limit global warming to 1.5°C, as UNEP's Emissions Gap Report highlighted before this climate summit." "Methane emissions need to be reduced since it escapes the atmosphere far more quickly than carbon dioxide. In order to achieve this significant short-term climate target, governments and businesses may greatly benefit from the Methane Alert and Response System." In addition to supporting MARS, the Bezos Earth Fund and the Global Methane Hub are funding further UNEP IMEO programmes. Among them are preliminary studies and background work on agricultural methane emissions, where it is hoped that integrating multi-scale ground observations with growing satellite capacity would improve quantification.