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The average global temperature has risen by more than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times for the first time, according to data released by the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on November 21.
Accordingly, the average global temperature on November 17 was 2.07 degrees Celsius higher than the average from 1850 to 1900, and this is also the highest increase ever recorded. Last September, C3S assessed that 2023 will almost certainly surpass the record for the hottest year recorded in 2016, with temperatures that may be unprecedented in history, most likely the hottest in more than 100,000 years. Last October alone, the temperature was 1.7 degrees Celsius higher than the average October in the pre-industrial period.
On the same day, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its annual Emissions Gap report, warning that the planet is on track to rapidly warm by 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius by 2100. If current policies and efforts to cut emissions are taken into account, the Earth will warm by up to 3 degrees Celsius, far exceeding the key limits set by the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The latest figures are making the issue of addressing methane emissions a new hot topic at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).
COP28 is scheduled to take place from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Climate discussions often revolve around reducing CO2 - the most dangerous greenhouse gas. However, methane (CH4) - another gas that can cause global warming and is considered the hidden killer behind CO2 - is becoming a new hot spot in discussions at COP28. At the national and regional levels, in 2021, the European Union and the United States implemented the Global Methane Commitment, aiming to reduce methane emissions worldwide by 30% by 2030, compared to 2020 levels.
Both the US and China have announced plans to include methane in their climate action plans, while major oil and gas companies have proposed an Oil and Gas Climate Initiative to achieve net-zero emissions from exploration and production by 2030.
Methane is abundant in nature and is the main component of natural gas. It is the second largest contributor to climate change, contributing about 16% to global warming. Methane stays in the atmosphere for only about 10 years, but has a much stronger warming effect than CO2. Specifically, over 100 years, methane's warming effect on the Earth is 28 times higher than CO2. If calculated over 20 years, the difference is 80 times.
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