The contribution of historical methane emissions to present-day warming

In new research, ”The contribution of historical methane emission to present-day warming”, commissioned by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Andy Reisinger has answered a fundamental next question: how much have individual sources of methane emissions – such as agriculture – contributed to present day warming globally?

Dr Reisinger found that of the 0.5 °C of warming from methane emissions, 60% was due to biogenic methane (from agriculture, waste and biomass burning) and 40% was due to fossil methane (from fugitive emissions and incomplete combustion of coal, oil and gas). Biogenic methane emissions from agriculture specifically contributed 0.19 °C of the 0.5 °C of present-day warming caused by methane emissions.

This means that methane emissions from agriculture have caused approximately 13% of present 1.5 °C warming from changes in greenhouse gas concentrations.