Methane levels are rising - could it be nature's response to warming?

Scientists at the Askö research base in southern Sweden are investigating a methane mystery. They're concerned, because levels of methane in the atmosphere are rising rapidly and nobody is quite sure why. 

First, let's take a look at the latest data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Globally, it was the warmest September on record by a large margin, with temperatures 0.9 degrees above the 1991-2020 average.

In Europe, September was the warmest ever, with a huge temperature anomaly of 2.5 degrees Celsius above average.

France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, and Austria were among the countries that had their hottest September on record.

It was hot, and in parts of Europe and North Africa, it was unusually rainy. This map of precipitation anomaly below shows in dark blue the heavy rain associated with Storm Daniel. It led to devastating and deadly floods in Libya, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, in Antarctica, the sea ice extent was 9% below the 1991-2020 average for September.

This is the fifth month in a row that Antarctic sea ice has been at a record low level for the time of year.

Methane concentrations in our atmosphere are rising. This is a cause for concern because methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. 

We met scientists in Sweden who are on a mission to measure natural sources of methane, a climate-warming gas with no colour or smell.

It's emitted by a huge variety of man-made and natural sources, and researchers want to know how much is coming from coastal areas, such as the Baltic seascape around Askö. This kind of environment is seldom monitored, but it probably should be.

"We have put a chamber on top of the water surface that's going to measure methane, carbon dioxide and water vapour," explained Thea