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What’s Caused Increased Methane Levels? Not Fossil Fuel Production Adapted from a Press Release from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Ltd A recent study from the New Zealand-based National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) indicates fossil fuel production has NOT been a major cause in the rise of methane levels in the atmosphere since 2007. Methane is a greenhouse gas and one of the major contributors to climate change. The research, led by NIWA atmospheric scientist Hinrich Schaefer, concluded the increasing levels of methane in the atmosphere are most likely due to agricultural practices. NIWA scientists first noticed trends occurring in the data collected at NIWA’s clean air monitoring stations at Baring Head in Wellington, and Arrival Heights in Antarctica. With only Southern Hemisphere data to go on, the scientists began to collaborate with the University of Colorado in the U.S., and Heidelberg University in Germany whose scientists were taking similar measurements in a number of locations across the world. “We wanted to put all the data together, then calculate the global average for each year and look at how that has changed over time,” Dr. Schaefer said. Between 1999 and 2006, scientists observed a plateau in the amount of methane in the atmosphere. The amount had been steadily increasing since preindustrial times, but leveled out for about seven years. After 2006, it began to rise again and continues to do so. Dr. Schaefer said there were three broad questions the scientists sought to answer: Were there methane sources that diminished when the plateau began in 1999? What were they? What has been driving the renewed growth since 2006? “We found we could distinguish three different types of methane emissions. One is the burning of organic material, such as forest fires. Another is fossil fuel production - the same processes that form natural oil and gas - and the third is formed by microbes which come from a variety of sources such as wetlands, rice paddies, and livestock.” Around the time the plateau in methane emissions occurred, eco- nomic collapse in the Soviet Union caused oil production to decline dra- matically - a factor that could now be detected in atmospheric analysis, but no great surprise to the scientists. However, analysis since 2006, rules out fossil fuel production as the source of methane increasing again. “That was a real surprise, because at that time the U.S. started [hydraulic fracturing] and we also know that the economy in Asia picked up again, and coal mining increased. However, that is not reflected in the atmosphere,” Dr. Schaefer said. “Our data indicate that the source of the increase was methane produced by bacteria, of which the most likely sources are natural, such as wetlands or agricultural, for example from rice paddies or livestock... If we want to mitigate climate change, methane is an important gas to deal with. If we want to reduce methane levels, this research shows us that the big process we have to look at is agriculture.” There is also another important consideration in the mix. Naturally produced methane sources are particularly sensitive to changes in climate and, according to Dr. Schaefer, wetlands produce more methane if there is more rain and if it is warmer. Other factors to consider are thawing permafrost which also produces methane; and methane can be found in ice-like structures in ocean sediments. We want to express our appreciation for your generosity in support of Montana Water Drilling Association Scholarship Fund. Your commitment was incredibly helpful and allowed us to reach our goal. Thank you from all of us! Sincerely, The Scholarship Committee , Montana Water Well Drillers Association 76 JUNE 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®