--- title: New Methane Measurements Suggest Pollution is Worse Than Researchers Thought description: Methane can have a major effect on global warming canonical: https://time.com/3983516/methane-greenhouse-gas-emissions/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-04T13:03:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T22:02:05.000Z article:section: Science og:title: Study Finds Methane Emissions Worse Than Researchers Thought og:description: Methane can have a major effect on global warming og:url: https://time.com/3983516/methane-greenhouse-gas-emissions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08fd97666d447502/69885ddaf887dcba58e91b50/natural-gas-production-facility.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Caucasian technicians tightening bolts on pipe og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Study Finds Methane Emissions Worse Than Researchers Thought twitter:description: Methane can have a major effect on global warming twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08fd97666d447502/69885ddaf887dcba58e91b50/natural-gas-production-facility.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New Methane Measurements Suggest Pollution is Worse Than Researchers Thought  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:02 PM UTCPublished: Aug 4, 2015 1:03 PM UTC  Caucasian technicians tightening bolts on pipe Caucasian technicians tightening bolts on pipeGetty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:02 PM UTCPublished: Aug 4, 2015 1:03 PM UTC A new [study](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ese3.81/abstract) has found that a device widely used to detect methane gas may fail to capture the full scale of leakages, resulting in chronic underestimates of the potent greenhouse gas. University of Texas researchers identified a pattern of measurement errors from the Bacharach Hi-Flow Sampler, a device widely deployed at natural gas facilities, which the Environmental Protection Agency uses to collect nationwide data on methane emissions. The device switches between two sensors that measure low and high intensity leakages. Researchers found the device frequently malfunctioned in the handoff, resulting in “systematically underestimated emissions.” The study was published Tuesday in the journal [Energy Science & Engineering](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ese3.81/abstract). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3983516/methane-greenhouse-gas-emissions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3983516/methane-greenhouse-gas-emissions/"},"headline":"New Methane Measurements Suggest Pollution is Worse Than Researchers Thought","datePublished":"2015-08-04T13:03:07.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T22:02:05.000Z","description":"Methane can have a major effect on global warming","url":"https://time.com/3983516/methane-greenhouse-gas-emissions/","keywords":["climate change","Tech"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08fd97666d447502/69885ddaf887dcba58e91b50/natural-gas-production-facility.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08fd97666d447502/69885ddaf887dcba58e91b50/natural-gas-production-facility.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Caucasian technicians tightening bolts on pipe","caption":"Caucasian technicians tightening bolts on pipe","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"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/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3983516/methane-greenhouse-gas-emissions/","name":"New Methane Measurements Suggest Pollution is Worse Than Researchers Thought"}}]}] ```