It’s no secret that the United States has a methane problem. Methane accounts for about one half of 1 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions — it’s released mostly from natural gas production, landfills, and agriculture (cow farts and burps). But as a greenhouse gas, it’s incredibly potent in the short term, capable of trapping up to 90 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-30 year time period. And although the Obama administration has proposed some potential solutions, methane emissions are currently unregulated by the federal government.A couple new analyses came out this week painting a picture of just how severe methane emissions really are.

Source: U.S. methane problem is much worse than we thought | Grist