Greenhouse gas -- discussion on methane

I have chosen to talk about methane which is a "Greenhouse gas" that occurs naturally in the atmosphere along with carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.  As discussed, these greenhouse gases absorbing and radiating heat back to earth acting like a blanket.  Without them the earth would have been too cold for life to exist.  Unfortunately with human activity, we are increasing the concentration of all of these gases so they are radiating more and more heat back to the earth's surface that is leading to a warming of a planet.

According to Global Methane Initiative (globalmethane.org), the human contributions to methane production are:

1. production of coal, oil and natural gas
2. municipal solid waste decomposing in landfills
3. waste water treatment facilities
4. domestic animal waste management systems
5. rice production

The Government of Canada's climate change site indicates that although methane will only last 12 years in the atmosphere after being emitted it can trap 70 times more heat in a 20 year period than carbon dioxide.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency in the US, 50-65% of methane emissions are due to human activities. Therefore methane plays a huge role in the greenhouse gas "blanket effect".

Not only will methane emissions contribute to warming of the planet but warming of the planet and the thawing of permafrost will release further deposits of what was frozen methane or what NASA describes as the rapid release of methane.