Go read this investigation into major methane leaks in Texas and New Mexico

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Methane is being released from oil and gas infrastructure in the US. The leaking methane is not visible to the naked eye, but a recent investigation by The Associated Press helped expose the problem.

Hundreds of sites gushing methane were revealed in the Permian Basin, a major oil and gas-production area spread across Texas and New Mexico. When it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere, methane is more powerful than carbon dioxide. 533 of the super-polluting sites were spotted by Carbon Mapper using some neat tech. The data was used by The Associated Press to report on companies using public records.

A group of companies were exposed for releasing a lot of pollution with no consequences. The companies owned many of the sites. As much climate pollution as lighting up seven tanker trucks full of gasoline is created by a subsidiary of West Texas Gas.

Methane emissions would have continued to sneak past regulators if it weren't for research and reporting They saw 12 times more methane leaking at the site than the company reported.

According to the AP analysis, the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin doesn't always report methane emissions. More than 140 super-emitting sites were releasing so much methane that they should have reported it to the EPA, but the vast majority of companies didn't.

Efforts to understand how much global warming we are facing, as well as what we need to do to adapt to and prevent more catastrophic climate change, can be hampered by the fact that the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting program undercounts how much pollution is unleashed into the atmosphere. Plugging the leaks is the first step in taking care of them.

The race is on to deploy new technology that can capture what is actually happening at the oil and gas sites. In order to spot methane that they wouldn't be able to see, Carbon Mappers flew high over the basin. The light that signals the presence of methane is picked up by the analyzer.

Researchers want to get a better view from space. Carbon Mappers wants to launch two demonstration satellites. The plan is to launch a bigger constellation of satellites that will be able to detect 80% of global methane and CO2 emissions.

One-third of the global warming we have today is due to methane emissions from human activity. MethaneSAT is on course to launch this year. Volunteers on the ground are using strontiums mounted on vehicles.

The EPA plans to use helicopters and cameras to find major sources of methane in the basin. The administrator for the region said in a press release that the flyovers are vital to identifying which facilities are responsible for the bulk of emissions.

The new rules to limit methane emissions were put on hold by the Trump administration. The US became one of over 100 countries to sign onto the Global Methane Pledge last year.

The bigger the problem of leaking methane is, the more important it is to take stock. You can read the whole story here if you want to. It comes with some really cool, but alarming, photos and videos that show methane plumes that can't be seen with the naked eye.