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Old Article: Methane Up Sharply; Ozone Impact Studied, Published: March 8, 1988, AP

The following very dated news article suggests that the issue of today's climate change has already been predicted by scientists three decades ago. Contrary to what Climategate is trying to demonize, the issue of climate change is not really invented by the climate researchers. The problem is not just about the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, but the oil industry has been trying to force us to focus on carbon dioxide only:

"A sharp increase in methane gas in the atmosphere since 1978 will probably make the earth warmer and may worsen seasonal losses of protective ozone over Antarctica, scientists say.

"But the 11 percent increase in methane in the last decade may also slow depletion of the ozone shield over the rest of the planet, said F. Sherwood Rowland and Donald R. Blake, chemists at the University of California at Irvine.

"Their study, financed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was published Friday in the journal Science.

"Methane is the major component of natural gas, but about 80 percent of atmospheric methane comes from decomposition in rice paddies, swamps and the intestines of cows, with some contribution from wood digestion in termites, Mr. Rowland said.

"Humans are responsible for increased methane levels because they are raising more cows, growing more rice and chopping down tropical forests, which provides food for more termites, said atmospheric scientist Pat Zimmerman of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.

(Update 1: According to The Earth Encyclopedia , methane emissions resulting from human activities are now thought to exceed those from natural sources, annual emissions being around 320 million tonnes. The main human-made sources arise from losses occurring during oil, coal and gas extraction, from ruminant livestock and waste treatment, from landfill sites, rice cultivation and biomass burning. )

(Update 2: In 2008, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that methane is on the rise again after nearly a decade of near stagnation. The rising level of methane may be caused by the increased rate of oil, coal and gas extraction.)

"Mr. Blake and Mr. Rowland collected air samples regularly from January 1978 to September 1987 at up to 60 locations around the Pacific to measure methane levels. Their study indicates the rate of increase in methane gas slowed slightly in the last five years. The Greenhouse Effect

"Researchers generally agree that by trapping solar heat like glass in a greenhouse, methane, carbon dioxide and other pollutants are likely to warm the earth's lower atmosphere by a few degrees in the next half century.

"They fear this greenhouse effect may cause crop-threatening droughts and partly melt polar ice caps, raising sea levels.

"Ozone is an air pollutant at low altitudes, but in the stratosphere it shields the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Scientists say reduction of the ozone layer will cause more skin cancers and ecological damage.

"In 1974, Mr. Rowland and a chemist, Mario Molina, first warned that the ozone layer was threatened by man-made chlorine compounds called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFC's, which are used as refrigeration coolants, aerosol propellants and for making plastic foams. The United States banned spray-can CFC's in 1978. A global treaty aims to reduce global output of CFC's and other ozone-destroying chemicals.

"Mounting evidence indicates CFC's are responsible for the worldwide loss of about 1 percent of the earth's ozone shield and drastic thinning of the ozone layer above Antarctica for a few months starting every September. Ice Clouds Over Antarctica

"Mr. Blake and Mr. Rowland said methane increases might worsen the Antarctic ozone hole by aiding formation of ice clouds above Antarctica. Studies by Molina and others suggest the clouds enhance chemical reactions that allow chlorine from CFC's to break down ozone.

"As methane rises into the polar stratosphere, it breaks down and releases hydrogen, which combines with a chemical called hydroxyl to form water, which in turn freezes into clouds, Mr. Blake explained.

"Outside Antarctica, wind and higher temperatures prevent formation of stratospheric clouds. Instead, by attacking chlorine from CFC's, methane may reduce the amount of chlorine available to destroy ozone, Mr. Blake said.

"The 11 percent methane increase ''will make the ozone hole over Antarctica more severe,'' said Mr. Molina, who is at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. ''It will probably make the ozone depletion in the rest of the world less severe,'' he said.

"Mr. Rowland and Mr. Blake also said that because increasing atmospheric methane reduces the amount of hydroxyl present, it may reduce the atmosphere's ability to cleanse itself of pollutants. Hydroxyl reacts with many pollutants and removes them from the atmosphere.

SOURCE OF THE ARTICLE