--- title: Climate Change: Oil and Gas Industry's Methane Problem Grows description: The fossil fuel industry emits far more methane than previously understood, a potentially complicating speed of climate change. canonical: https://time.com/4520124/natural-gas-methane-fossil-fuel/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-05T21:30:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:01:47.402Z article:section: Science og:title: The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Methane Problem Is Worse Than Previously Thought og:description: The findings could change our understanding of climate change og:url: https://time.com/4520124/natural-gas-methane-fossil-fuel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Methane Problem Is Worse Than Previously Thought twitter:description: The findings could change our understanding of climate change twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Methane Problem Is Worse Than Previously Thought  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 5, 2016 9:30 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 5, 2016 9:30 PM UTC The oil, gas and coal industries emit far more methane than previously understood, a finding that could complicate calculations about the speed of climate change and the best ways to address it, according to new [research](http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature19797). Researchers behind the study, published in the journal _Nature_, found that methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, as well as natural methane emissions from underground, are 60% to 110% higher in total than previously thought. Scientists have only recently begun to grapple fully with the role methane—the most common chemical in natural gas—plays in contributing to man-made climate change. The effect of the gas on climate change is 25 times greater than carbon dioxide, pound per pound, but methane disappears from the atmosphere much more quickly, according to Environmental Protection Agency [data](https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases#methane). Many energy and environment experts have hailed natural gas as cheap and relatively clean in comparison to coal and other fossil fuels. But new research has suggested that the methane emitted in the natural gas recovery and transportation process may make the energy source less desirable. **Read More:** [How Your Trash Is Contributing to Climate Change](http://time.com/4042559/trash-climate-change-landfill/?iid=sr-link4) While the study found that scientists had previously underestimated the amount of methane emissions, the new research also suggests that methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry are not growing—in fact, they have remained relatively constant over the past three decades despite [dramatic growth in natural gas production](http://time.com/4406405/natural-gas-climate-change-energy/). Study author Stefan Schwietzke, a scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, explained that the consistency in methane emissions might be due to efforts by natural gas producers to improve practices and limit waste. Still, the current level of methane emissions remains a concern, one that scientists and policymakers are scrambling to address. Many questions remain unanswered, and Schwietzke said more research is needed. “It certainly is a scientific process,” says Schwietzke of studying methane. “As more data comes to the surface sometimes conclusions can change.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4520124/natural-gas-methane-fossil-fuel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4520124/natural-gas-methane-fossil-fuel/"},"headline":"The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Methane Problem Is Worse Than Previously Thought","datePublished":"2016-10-05T21:30:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:01:47.402Z","description":"The findings could change our understanding of climate change","url":"https://time.com/4520124/natural-gas-methane-fossil-fuel/","keywords":["energy","Environment","climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/energy/","name":"energy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4520124/natural-gas-methane-fossil-fuel/","name":"The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Methane Problem Is Worse Than Previously Thought"}}]}] ```