Two new studies this week bring up new information on the sources of methane in the atmosphere. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Researchers this week released two debate-stoking new studies about methane, the powerful, climate-warming gas that scientists say promises an expeditious target for controlling global warming in the coming decades. One study, published in the journal Nature Wednesday, found that the extraction of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution has released more climate-warming methane—as much as 40 percent more—than scientists previously thought, a startling number that could drastically upend currently agreed-upon global emissions targets in the Paris climate agreement. The other study, published Thursday in Science, found that “minimal” methane was emitted from permafrost and geologic seepage as Earth was emerging from the last ice age, a finding that suggests that less methane than scientists thought might be emitted in coming decades as the polar regions warm. Inside the […]