TRASHED.EARTH

Every second, Earth gets trashed.

How we count human methane emissions

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The methane emissions tile does not read atmospheric sensors in real time. It applies the latest estimate of methane from human activity — about 405 million metric tons of CH₄ per year — and spreads that total evenly across the calendar year.

How the counter works

  1. Start with 405,000,000 metric tons CH₄ per year.
  2. Measure how much of the current calendar year has elapsed.
  3. Display that fraction of the annual total, updating continuously.

Emissions vary seasonally — agriculture peaks with growing cycles; heating drives gas leaks in winter. Our counter assumes a smooth average pace so the scale is easy to read at a glance.

Where 405 million tons comes from

The anchor is the IEA Global Methane Tracker 2025, which draws on the Global Methane Budget. Total global methane emissions are roughly 610 million metric tons (Mt) per year, with human activity responsible for almost two-thirds — about 405 Mt.

That anthropogenic share includes:

  • Energy — oil, gas, and coal operations (roughly 145 Mt in 2024, plus bioenergy combustion)
  • Agriculture — livestock, rice cultivation, and manure
  • Waste — landfills and wastewater

We display metric tons of methane (CH₄), not CO₂-equivalent. Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas over short timescales (often cited as ~80× CO₂ over 20 years), but converting to CO₂e would blur what is physically being emitted.

What this number does not capture

  • Natural methane — wetlands and other natural sources account for roughly one-third of the global total and are excluded here.
  • CO₂ and other greenhouse gases — see the CO₂ and oil tiles for fossil carbon.
  • Daily satellite detections — the counter uses annual budget estimates, not live leak readings.

Why we show it anyway

Methane drives a large share of near-term warming, yet it gets less attention than CO₂. Oil and gas expansion, livestock, and landfill waste all pump CH₄ into the atmosphere continuously. Read this counter as a proportional share of a published anthropogenic methane budget, not a live atmospheric measurement.

Further reading