Super-potent methane from US fracking is a key cause but very few news outlets have reported it – even as global heating and weather extremes accelerate
- NASA reports that July 2017 edged out last year’s July as the hottest month ever recorded (average global temperature).
- The record heat is surprising climate scientists, who had thought the absence of El Nino would bring 2017 temperatures down following three straight years of record-breaking heat.
- Global average heat beginning in 2014 is much higher than any previous years on record.
- The world’s leading scientists say the recent surge of super-potent methane (natural gas) is a key factor in the unexpected rate of warming.
- Cornell researchers are among the scientists saying the US fracking boom is a key source of that methane and the record heating.
- The US natural gas and power industries continue to block regulations requiring cost-effective measures to curb the methane venting and leaking throughout their operations.
- Recent advances make solar power with batteries cheaper and more reliable than building natural gas power plants in the US.
We urge reporters and opinion writers to foster public debate on the methane-climate connection – and the urgency to pursue practical solutions.