BRAINCAKEMethane
Methane (CH4) is the second most important greenhouse gas produced by human activity, after carbon dioxide. There is far less of it in the atmosphere (about 1.9 ppm compared with over 420 ppm of CO2), but each molecule absorbs infrared much more strongly. Over 100 years, methane has roughly 28 times the warming effect of the same mass of CO2. It lasts only about 12 years in the atmosphere before being broken down to CO2 and water.
Methane is produced by methanogenic archaea breaking down organic matter in anaerobic conditions. Its sources include:
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All 29 lessons in Human Influence on Ecosystems · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics