The huge increase in methane emissions that occurred between 2020 and 2022 has, until now, been erroneously attributed to coronavirus-related lockdowns. Covid-19Covid-19. Pollution, resulting from carscarsbuses and planes, leads to the training of hydroxyl radicalhydroxyl radical (HO), a chemical reactionchemical reaction which limits methane in the atmosphere. The methane peak which had therefore occurred during the general confinement had therefore been attributed to the reduction in traffic.
73% of methane emissions linked to flooding
A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)) now proves that the majority of this peak was in fact linked to stagnant water from the gigantic floods that occurred in the tropics: 43% of this peak would thus be linked to floods in Asia and 30% would be linked to floods in Africa; 73% of broadcastsbroadcasts of methane from 2020 to 2022 would therefore come from floods. Flooded agricultural lands, particularly rice fields, favored the development of microbesmicrobes which decomposed the plants. It is this process that has generated enormous methane emissions.
The gigantic floods that occurred in the tropics have been attributed to the La Niña phenomenon by climatologistsclimatologistsand very little to global warming, even if it is possible that this has worsened the precipitationprecipitation. However, it is accepted that a warming world generates extreme rainfall events, and therefore floods. However, this cycle turns into a snake that bites its own tail, since the floods in turn generate a greenhouse gasgreenhouse gas which contributes to warming.
