NASA Connects Fracking And Methane Plume

NASA Study Nails Fracking as Source of Massive Methane 'Hot Spot'

Lauren MacCauley, August 16, 2016 (Common Dreams)

“…[A] methane ‘hot spot in the Four Corners region of the American southwest is directly related to leaks from natural gas extraction, processing, and distribution…[According to Airborne methane remote measurements reveal heavy-tail flux distribution in Four Corners region from NASA, the] 2,500-square mile plume, first detected in 2003 and confirmed by NASA satellite data in October 2014, [is the] largest concentration of atmospheric methane in the U.S. and is more than triple a standard ground-based estimate. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a highly-efficient greenhouse gas—84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, and a significant contributor to global warming…[NASA surveyed] gas processing facilities, storage tanks, pipeline leaks, and well pads, as well as a coal mine venting shaft…[L]eaks from only 10 percent of the individual methane sources are contributing to half of the emissions, confirming the scientists' suspicions that the mysterious hotspot was connected to the high level of fracking [at the more than 20,000 oil and gas wells operating] in the region…The study further underscores how problematic current estimates of methane emissions from oil and gas operations are…” click here for more

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