Methane emissions rising at rapid rate, climate scientists say

Climate scientists are warning methane - a highly potent greenhouse gas - is being "dangerously overlooked" when it comes to addressing global warming.

Heavy machinery moves coal at a mine near Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley Source: AAP

Since it was first announced in 2021, more than 150 countries, including Australia, have signed up to the Global Methane Pledge.

But just two per cent of climate finance goes towards slashing methane emissions.

Researchers at University of Sydney say they have developed a way to turn methane emissions from landfill into sustainable sources of energy.

Capturing and curbing methane emissions is critical to slowing the impacts of climate change, a group of international climates scientists are warning.

Scientists say the rise is largely due to human activities.

An undated handout picture made available by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of NASA's new three-dimensional portrait of methane -- the world's second-largest contributor to greenhouse warming Credit: NASA/SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION STUDIO HANDOUT/EPA

The waste, fossil fuel and agriculture industries among the main sources of human methane emissions.

Methane is responsible for about one-third of global warming - the second largest contributor after carbon dioxide, which is more prevalent and lasts longer in the atmosphere.

But methane is more effective at trapping heat, warming the atmosphere more than 80 times as carbon dioxide does over a 20-year period

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