methane in the atmosphere?

Question

How is methane a threat or danger to the climate, and earth, involving global warming and the green house effect? is the greenhouse effect and global warming the same thing? Is there anything we can do about these problems and should we or should we not find ways to eliminate methane from the atmosphere, if so, how and why?

Answer 1

methane is a greenhouse gas, released by cattle, rice paddies etc. The greenhouse effect and global warming are not the same. The greenhouse effect can lead to global warming as the reradiated infrared heat, which is usually lost to space is trapped by this layer of gases known as the greenhouse gases. Other greenhouse gases include CO2, H2O, NOx etc. The simplest option would be to stop burning fossil fuels, stop deforestation of tropical rainforests, stop using cars and opt for walking or cycling or even public transport, however this is easier said than done. Although switching to renewable energy as a source of power would be ideal there are still environmental implications from these 'cleaner/greener' options, such as habitat destruction, some are very expensive eg solar panels, and unreliable eg solar power and wind turbines. We cannot simply eliminate CH4, and even if we did there are still plenty of other greenhouse gases to deal with. Its not as simple as you seem to think

Answer 2

Methane is a very efficient green house effect gas, that means that a relatively small quantity could "blanket" the planet and prevent infrared energy from being radiated to space.
Greenhouse effect is the consequence of having gasses in the atmosphere that boost the heat of the planet by keeping the heat in; if it was not for greenhouse gasses, Earth would be too cold for anything to survive. Global warming is the trend of the average temperature to presently going up. It may be the result of having too much greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but that may not be the only explanation. There were times in the past where Earth was colder and times where the planet was warmer than now, and we can't really blame man made greenhouse gas effects for those events in the distant past.
If global warming is the consequence of greenhouse gasses, then anyone can help by using less energy. Methane gas is released by cattle and rotting garbage, so reducing consumption would help. Methate eliminates itself after a while, so if we were to stop releasing it, that is the best way to eliminate it -- trying to capture the gas that was already released is impossible.
However, if the current global waming is the effect of the planet just getting warmer and that human activities is just a drop in the ocean (all the greenhouse gasses released by human activity amount to just a tiny little fraction of the greenhouse effect of a few % change in the relative humidity) then there is nothing we can stop doing that would really help, unfortunately.
More research is needed to be sure.