Māori Climate Commissioner: National Party MP promotes woeful fake news on methane

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Māori Climate Commissioner, Donna Awatere Huata, has criticised National Party MP Stuart Smith for last week promoting fake news on methane.

“Facebook is a breeding ground for climate denial and to have a a Politician give such naked ignorance oxygen by reposting fake news is dangerous. If we are serious about combating climate change, pretending it isn’t real and caused by human pollution is counter productive in the extreme”.

“The truth is that methane is part of the problem so preventing and curbing it must be part of the solution. In a paper published this month by the American Geophysical Union, researchers show a large spike over the last 4 years in methane which is almost 28 times more potent in holding heat than CO2. This spike can be attributed to more intensive farming practices in Africa and methane release from heating swamp land, if we don’t work to lead the science that can reduce methane from agriculture then it simply can’t be seen as part of our sustainable future.”

“We must face this challenge honestly, not by spreading disinformation on social media”.

Donna Awatere Huata
Māori Climate Commissioner

11 COMMENTS

  1. “The longer we delay methane cuts, the further we will have to cut.”

    National Party and the business round table have worked hard at deliberately stalling any addressing of climate change for three Govts.

    Methane in the atmosphere eventually decays into CO2. Before that decay its GHG warming effect is over 100 times greater than CO2.

    As it decays to CO2 eventually then the total life as a GHG of that emission has a warming effect about 32 times that of just CO2 over centuries. The initial warming effect of the methane though is very high at 100+ times that of CO2, so adds to warming more significantly.

    As the global temperature rises more methane is emitted from frozen reserves in the high latitudes.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/opinion/109337209/reduction-in-farming-intensity-a-single-solution-to-multiple-problems

    Reduction of methane is not a path to economic downturn but a path to avoid significant economic collapse.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/19-06-2018/cutting-methane-hard-and-fast-is-the-best-path-to-carbon-zero/

    The orthodox economics hides the real costs to NZ of dairy and irrigation both of which are being heavily subsidised by future generations and costs of environmental degradation.
    Damage to soil by irrigation is not even being assessed. Long term overseas studies show high costs to soil, salination, loss of biodiversity and ground water contamination by way of non organic chemical agents.

    Growing crops that are suited to an environment using permaculture, is a much more sustainable long term and economic pathway.

  2. Professor Peter Wadhams On Subsea Permafrost Methane Releases And Impacts on Civilisation

    In this interview conducted in November 2013, Professor Peter Wadhams of University of Cambridge, UK, explains how methane releases such as those being witnessed in the Arctic could impact life on Earth.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRqv_RhLno4

  3. The amount of methane into the atmoshere is minor to the amount of CO2 being emitted by hydrocarbons emitted by motorised transport.

    Starting with aeroplanes would be interesting. Co2 is a relativel dense gas compared to oxygen or nitrogen, the two other main components of our atmosphere. Being denser it tends to drift downwards to the planetary surface. A concentration of CO2 at surface level creates a lovely warm insulating layer at planetary surface
    .

    Hydrocarbon burning at at planetary surface adds even more insulating blanket.

    Methane is not as dense or as stable as CO2. If burnt it will produce CO2 plus water. CH4 goes to CO2 + H2O.

    The methane discussion needs to be had. The CO2 debate is very overdue. Can we survive without planes, trucks , cars etc?

    OBTW electric vehicles require some rather rare earth minerals not easily extractible. What energy source(s) do we use to extract them?

    We do not have any real understanding of climate change.

    This planets climate has fluctuated not only in millions of years but in relatively recently recorded human history.

    Greenland, Iceland had farms. A few hundred years later the Thames River in London used to freeze so hard markets were held on it and bridges were unnecessary, people skated.

    Academics debate about aboriginal settlement of Australia, it was not that long ago when asian australian sea transits were done. Perhaps 50,000 years ago? What were the sea levels? How come no one followed into OZ? Bass Strait is not a user friendly stretch of water but was apparently kind enough to allow human settlement of what iis known as Tasmania.

    The sea routes got easy then got impossible.

    This planet has never had a stable climate.

    The Roman Empire came under attack from nomadic steppe tribespeople because o climate change

    • For more than 99.9+% of human existence on Earth we never had planes, trucks, cars etc.

      Humankind population has exploded and overshot Earths carrying capacity of this species that harvests energy.

      If we have a future then it has to be a low energy, minimal resource use culture, supporting a small cooperative educated population.

  4. Methane is relevant in any climate discussion but is a a distraction from the biggest suspect, CO2.

    Every time we light a fire, drive/ride a hydrocarbon fuelled vehicle and especially fly in planes we dump so much CO2 int the atmosphere we are slowly duplicating the extinction of the dinosaurs.

    That was, probably due to loss of sunlight and warmth.

    CO2 is a small percentage of our atmosphere. Its also one of the densest which means it has tendency to accumulate closer to the planets surface. It a stable compound with low reactivity to its environment.

    CO2 is very good temperature regulator, like a fluffy merino blanket.

    A dense fluffy merino blanket on the earths surface is sure not to cool the place, nor is it likely to allow you breathe easily.

    The methane debate needs to be had but everyone is ignoring the biggest elephant in the room petrochemical fuelled transport.

    I just love all those planes dumping CO2, and whatever else as they fly overhead.

  5. The amount of methane trapped in the Arctic Circle, and which is susceptible to release with rising temperatures – is deeply troubling. Once released, the effects will be unlike anything we’ve endured the last thirty years.

  6. Meanewhile, Thames Coromandel District Maor (and former National Party politician) has rejected signing up to the Local Government Leaders’ Climate Change Declaration.

    Speaking on Radio NZ this morning, she point blank refused to disclose her views on climate change:

    Mrs Goudie refused to confirm whether she believed climate change was happening, saying she did not have an obligation to tell ratepayers what her opinion was.

    Mrs Goudie said she was not obliged to reveal her stance on climate change because “I think it’s incredibly highly politically charged and driven and I don’t think that makes for a good basis for sound judgment”.

    ref: https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/382892/climate-change-declaration-politically-charged-thames-coromandel-mayor-sandra-goudie

    Another climate change denier?

    Thus did the Human Race perish; not with a bang or a whimper, but with a gurgle…

    • Would Sandra’s pedigree of National MP, Federated Farmers branch chair and livelihood as a Dairy farmer have anything to do with climate denial or inaction to address climate matters.

      Her stint as MP in Local Government and Environment Committee: 21 May 2003 – 11 August 2005 no doubt saw many climate issues sidelined or robbed of oxygen.

      Ratepayers need educated leadership not dirty dairy dictates.

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