According to NOAA, atmospheric methane hits a new high, growing at the fastest rate.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide remains the most critical and long-term driver of climate change, but methane is more potent in the short term.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the amount of methane in the atmosphere has risen to a record high in history and is increasing at the fastest rate.
Greenhouse gases - the second largest contributor to global warming - are more potent than carbon dioxide, the main driver of climate change, breaking down faster, making their effects shorter.
Some experts say that reducing methane emissions is perhaps one of the simplest and most effective direct actions to slow climate change.
NOAA said that atmospheric methane levels have increased by 17 parts per billion by 2021 in a news release Thursday. Total atmospheric methane levels are 162 percent higher than pre-industrial levels and about 15 percent higher than a few decades ago.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide remains the most critical and long-term driver of climate change. However, the agency said his values also continued to climb, reaching new heights.
Reducing methane pollution has recently been the focus of international climate talks. Although methane is a short-lived driver of climate change, it can have a significant effect, absorbing more heat and energy than carbon dioxide. "Our data shows that global emissions continue to move in the wrong direction at high speed," NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a press release. "Methane emission reductions are an essential tool we are currently using to reduce the impact of climate change in the short term and reduce the rate of warming.
A recent analysis by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that methane's potential contribution to global warming is more than 81 times the carbon dioxide equivalent measured over 20 years.
According to the latest IPCC report, methane accounted for about 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.