Methane: A Threat to People and Planet

Methane is a potent warming agent and health hazard that leaks frequently from oil and gas systems, coal mines, landfills, and livestock. RMI advocates for the use of remote sensing and the MiQ voluntary standard to create a market for low-methane gas and eventually establish mandatory standards to achieve a 1.5-degree future.

• Methane is a significantly more powerful warming agent than carbon dioxide over short timeframes, with a warming capacity compared to 100 blankets if CO2 is viewed as one, over its 12-year lifetime.
• Human-made methane emissions, estimated at 375 million tons annually, primarily originate from livestock, landfills, coal mines, and oil and gas systems, with a small number of 'super-emitters' accounting for most atmospheric emissions.
• Methane leaks pose severe risks to public health and safety, often releasing toxic pollutants like benzene, toluene, and hydrogen sulfide that affect disadvantaged populations, and creating explosive hazards as seen in offshore incidents in Mexico and the Caspian Sea.
• Current national inventories often undercount methane, and US pipelines alone are estimated to have over 600,000 leaks per year.
• RMI supports the MiQ voluntary standard and certificate system to grade oil and gas based on methane intensity and monitoring, aiming to create a differentiated market for low-methane gas as a step toward mandatory standards.

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} }