An odorless, colorless, flammable gas, the major constituent of natural gas. It is a major greenhouse gas that occurs naturally.
Education Glossary of Atmospheric Sciences Data Center
A hydrocarbon that is a greenhouse gas. Methane is produced through anaerobic (without oxygen) decomposition of waste in landfills, animal digestion, decomposition of animal wastes, production and distribution of natural gas and oil, coal production , and incomplete fossil fuel combustion. The atmospheric concentration of methane has been shown to be increasing at a rate of about 0.6% per year and the concentration of about 1.7 parts per million by volume (ppmv) is more than twice its preindustrial value. However, the rate of increase of methane in the atmosphere may be stabilizing.
NASA Earth Observatory
Methane - CH4, a colorless, odorless, flammable, greenhouse gas. It is the simplest of all hydrocarbons with a formula of CH4. Methane is released naturally into the air from anaerobic environments such as marshes, swamps, and rice fields, and from symbiotic microbes in the guts of ruminant animals (such as cattle, sheep, and camels), and sewage sludge. Methane is released from methane producing bacteria (methanogens) that live in these anaerobic places. Methanogens in termite guts are the source of methane released by termites. The discovery that termites may be a significant source of atmospheric methane is attributed to work by Patrick Zimmerman and his research group members at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder Colorado (see reference immediately below and papers in the scientific literature).
[Solar Energy; v52n6; 467-477; 1994.]
[Air, The Nature of Atmosphere and the Climate; Michael Allaby; pages 39,40; 1992; Facts on File; New York]
[Dictionary of Science; R.K. Barnhart; page 398; 1986; Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston.]
Atmospheric Chemistry Glossary |
