Methane may not last long in the atmosphere — but it drives sea level rise for centuries – The Washington Post
Article Synopsis – A new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences underscores the fact that even greenhouse gases that don’t last long in the atmosphere — methane, for instance — can have centuries-long impacts on the expanding oceans. The researchers used a climate model to examine the effect of various greenhouse gases on thermal expansion in the oceans. They found that their effects persist in the ocean for hundreds of years. A scenario that reduces atmospheric temperature cannot be assumed to simultaneously eliminate future sea-level rise, due to the time scales associated with release of stored energy in the ocean.
One fact about methane that wasn’t touched upon in this article is the fact that methane is 100 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. Over a period of years it breaks down into carbon dioxide. With that transformation, methane averages about 25 times more warming effect than carbon dioxide over the course of a century. To read the actual article click here.