The ruptures on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline system under the Baltic Sea have led to what is likely the biggest single release of climate-damaging methane ever recorded, the United Nations Environment Programme said on Friday .
"This is really bad, most likely the largest emission event ever detected," Manfredi Caltagirone, head of the IMEO for UNEP, told Reuters. "This is not helpful in a moment when we absolutely need to reduce emissions." The total amount of methane leaking from the Gazprom-led pipeline system may be higher than from a major leak that occurred in December from offshore oil and gas fields in Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which spilled around 100 metric tons of methane per hour, Caltagirone said.
That is the equivalent of burning 1.1 billion pounds of coal, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.Improved satellite technology has rapidly enhanced the ability of scientists to find and analyse greenhouse gas emissions in recent years, something some governments hope will help companies detect and prevent methane emissions.
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