Nord Pipeline Explosion May Have Caused Single Biggest Methane Leak in History

There were three natural gas leaks in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Poland earlier this week, with monitoring stations logging huge spikes in methane from the leaks. Swedish officials said on Thursday that they have found a fourth leak in the Russian and German oil and gas pipes. Several European officials have suggested that there may have been an act of sabotage against European energy stability, possibly from Russia. Russia denied that it was responsible.

In a worst-case scenario, the leak could have discharged over a billion dollars of gas. The damage could be half a million metric tons of methane, according to two scientists. The Aliso Canyon accident in California in 2016 was the largest release of methane in history. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, the amount of methane that could be released by this explosion is twice as much as the Aliso leak.

According to the Washington Post, an individual release of methane like this won't be enough to cause a lot of harm to the atmosphere.

Drew Shindell, a professor of earth science at Duke University, told the Washington Post that it's not trivial. There are a lot of sources. A single event is usually small. This usually falls in that category.

In a worst-case scenario, the leak could represent 0.1 percent of the world's methane emissions. Paul Balcombe, an energy expert from London's Queen Mary University, told the Post that even a small leak has a big impact on the climate.

Even if the amount of methane released isn't enough to make a worldwide dent in greenhouse gas emissions doesn't mean that it wasn't a jaw-dropping amount

Carbon dioxide is more damaging over the long term than methane because it only lasts for a decade in the atmosphere. Methane is 80 times more potent than CO2 so it really packs a punch when it is in the air. Global methane emissions, primarily driven by the agriculture and the oil and gas industry, have risen so sharply in recent years that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change advised in its landmark report last year that drawing down methane emissions.

Rob Jackson said that whoever ordered this should go to jail.