January 19, 2016
The world — and the U.S. in particular — has one possible trick up its sleeve to help keep the 1.5°C target in reach, but it would mean banning shale gas, said Robert Howarth, a professor at Cornell University who has done some of the most cutting-edge research on fracking.
Shale gas is composed largely of methane, a greenhouse gas that has escaped notice in the official proceedings at the Paris summit, where the focus is overwhelmingly on carbon dioxide. But methane is actually a much more powerful trapper of heat than is carbon dioxide over the short term.
“If we continue methane production at current rates, the world will run up against the 1.5° limit in 12 to 15 years,” Howarth said. “If we stop producing methane, which means stop doing fracking of natural gas and oil, the world wouldn’t run up against that limit for about 50 years.
“So we could buy ourselves 25 to 35 years of time, which is critical. That could allow us to improve our political and socioeconomic responses to climate change and de-carbonize our societies accordingly. But if we’re serious about a 1.5° target, or even the 2° target, we can’t keep on fracking.”
Source: The Nation