🫧 The burping crisis

In 1776, while sailing along the banks of Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, physicist Alessandro Volta noticed that every time he disturbed the marshy mud on the lake’s bed by poking it with a stick, gas bubbles would appear, rising to the surface and disappearing into the air. Volta returned to collect and study this gas, leading to his discovery and identification of methane.

Little did he know, 250 years later, that same gas would be one of the leading causes of global climate change.

Later this month, scientists and policymakers from around the world will gather in the town of Ispra, near Lake Maggiore, for the Methane Action for People & Planet conference. There, they will share the latest discoveries in methane science, but also discuss strategies to cut emissions of this particularly potent greenhouse gas.

While carbon dioxide (CO₂) attracts the most attention regarding global warming, methane emissions are ...

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