Methane: A Threat to People and Planet

This briefing by RMI outlines the risks posed by methane emissions to public health, safety, and the climate, emphasizing the need for better visibility, source attribution, and the implementation of methane standards to reduce leakage from oil and gas systems, coal mines, landfills, and livestock.

• Methane is a significantly more potent warming agent than CO2 over short timeframes; it is described as having the warming power of approximately 100 blankets compared to CO2's single blanket over its 12-year lifetime before converting to smog and carbon dioxide.
• Annual methane emissions are estimated at 375 million tons, primarily originating from livestock, landfills, coal mines, and oil and gas systems. A small number of 'super-emitters' are responsible for the majority of atmospheric methane emissions, and approximately half of the leaks identified by the Carbon Mapper consortium are considered fixable.
• Methane leaks pose severe risks to public health and safety. Large leaks often contain poisonous gases, carcinogens, and toxic pollutants such as benzene, toluene, and hydrogen sulfide, which can be fatal to nearby residents, often in disadvantaged areas. Additionally, leaking gas is highly explosive, as demonstrated by pipeline incidents in Mexico and the Caspian Sea.
• There is a significant undercount of methane in many national inventories. In the United States alone, analysts estimate there are more than 600,000 methane leaks per year from pipelines.
• To manage emissions, RMI advocates for visibility, attribution, and market activation. This includes the use of the MiQ voluntary standard and certificate system to grade oil and gas based on monitoring methods, company practices, and methane intensity to create a market for low-methane gas, with the eventual goal of establishing a mandatory standard.

APA

RMI (2021). Methane: A Threat to People and Planet. https://rmi.org/resources/methane-a-threat-to-people-and-planet/

Chicago

RMI. Methane: A Threat to People and Planet. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/methane-a-threat-to-people-and-planet/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Methane: A Threat to People and Planet |date=7 July 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/methane-a-threat-to-people-and-planet/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2021methane, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Methane: A Threat to People and Planet}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/methane-a-threat-to-people-and-planet/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }