In 2024, atmospheric methane ranges reached their highest level in additional than 800,000 years, with the oil and fuel sector enjoying a serious function in that surge. The methane leaks from oil and fuel operations don’t simply heat the planet – in addition they launch poisonous pollution that may hurt individuals’s well being.
The Methane Danger Map plots vital methane leak occasions throughout the USA. By combining emissions knowledge with air high quality modeling, it not solely identifies the place methane “super-emitter” occasions occurred but additionally illustrates the place close by communities might have been uncovered to hazardous co-pollutants.
When you choose a methane leak occasion on the interactive map, a heatmap visualization exhibits the areas probably affected by the leak. The sidebar supplies extra particulars, together with the occasion date, emissions price, estimated variety of individuals impacted, and the variety of delicate services (akin to faculties and hospitals) throughout the affected space.
By highlighting delicate websites akin to faculties, childcare facilities, nursing houses, and hospitals, the map emphasizes how methane leaks might disproportionately have an effect on weak populations. Methane is invisible and odorless, making its dangers exhausting to detect. The map goals to make these hidden risks seen, and can hopefully empower communities and policymakers with proof they’ll probably act on.
