Methane found in danger level in the air in Bangladesh: Matuail land field of Dhaka city be the main source of methane
By Adnan Tazvir | Post Date – 07.05.2021
The presence of Methane gas, responsible for global warming , has suddenly increased in Bangladesh’s air. A report by the Paris-based research institute Kairos SS, based on observations by Hugo Satellite (GHGSat satellites on April 17, said that the world’s top 12 methane emitted sites have been identified to show the presence of mysterious fumes of dense methane gas in Bangladesh’s air. Environmentalists say the presence of methane in the country’s atmosphere is a matter of concern.
Scientists say measures must be taken to prevent the sudden rise in methane in the air, and if it may not possible, the country will face unimaginable health risks. Even higher levels of acid rain can cause severe damage to the country’s nature and environment.
This colorless methane gas is one of the strongest greenhouse gases. It has been blamed for the rapid rise in global warming over the past two decades, which has damaged the atmosphere 84 times more than Carbon dioxide.
According to the Hugo Satellite, Bangladesh’s
Matuail Sanitary Landfill Dhaka (Where does all our waste end up?) is emitting so much methane that there are no accurate statistics regularly, but the amount is about 4,000 kg per hour. In simple words, about two and a half thousand tons of waste is dumped in the Matuail Sanitary Landfill, spread over an area of 181 acres, and the amount of air pollution caused by one lac ninety thousand vehicles per hour is equal to the air pollution from this waste disposal.
However, environmentalists say that the layer of methane in the sky may be due to many reasons or maybe emitted from other countries and float here in the air, but more research is needed.
There is no way to solve this crisis without determining the exact level of emissions and identifying the source. Moniruzzaman, director-general of the Department of Environment, Bangladesh, said that nothing can be said about this at present. A technical committee has been formed. We have to wait for their report.
Analyzing data from the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-5 and Sentinel-2
satellites, it is said that paddy fields, sewage disposal, cracks in natural gas pipelines, coal-burning are the main causes of methane emissions in Bangladesh, which means it’s about to be the most delusional time of the year, as well. This methane can cause the burning of rice or heat shock.
Shahab Uddin, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of Bangladesh, said, ‘Bangladesh is aware of the issue from the beginning. Most of our methane here is made from paddy fields. When farmers water the soil, the bacteria in the soil produce huge amounts of gas. In addition, another source is fossil fuels burning and landfills. We are trying to reduce it.
Sharif Jamil, general secretary of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), said, ‘This layer of methane has been found from the satellite. Landfill may be one of the reasons for this. Methane from reservoirs, agricultural lands, forests or other places can come and concentrate in one place. It needs to be a study and the government needs to take policy steps to emit this gas.’
Professor Ahmed Kamruzzaman Majumder, chairman of the Department of Environmental Sciences at Stamford University Bangladesh and founding director of the Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies – CAPS , said, Methane has 5-6 sources and which are:
- Sea waves spray produce much methane but there is no methane on the coast of Bangladesh.
- Methane emits from the Agricultural Waste. The study of the satellite was done in February or March. It was winter at that time, so there was no chance of methane emits from there. When farmers watering the agricultural land, the bacteria in the soil produce large amounts of methane gas.
- Methane produces from coal mines. However, Bangladesh does not have any such coal mine.
- Methane is also released by leaking oil or gas pipes. No such incident has taken place in Bangladesh so far.
- Methane is also produced from cattle manure, which is at a moderate level in Bangladesh.
- Another source is fossil fuels.
In Bangladesh, a lot of garbage is burned openly and left behind. It is also a major source of methane emission in Bangladesh. - The most important reason is landfill gas. Large amounts of methane gas are generated from waste dumping sites (landfills). We generate a lot of gas from Jessore, Kushtia, Narayanganj, Dhaka’s Metropolitan areas’ land fields, and that gas is 100 percent methane. There is an absence of sustainable management of these landfills. It is polluting t
The Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate was organized by US President Joe Biden on April 22-23. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also took part in it. Besides, 40 world leaders also attended the conference. US President Joe Biden’s Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry paid a surprise visit to Dhaka on April 9 to invite Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the conference.
Ahmed Kamruzzaman Majumder has raised questions about the study of the sudden increase in methane in the atmosphere of Bangladesh before this summit on climate issues. He said the study was published when John Kerry came to invite Bangladesh to a conference on climate change.
Here we see that the matter is something else. Bangladesh is one of the countries affected by climate change. From there we demand some compensation from the developed countries. However, they are not willing to give it up. Now that Bangladesh’s role in methane production is being discussed, they will not want to pay more.
Which is an inevitable curse for a coastal country like ours. Because of climate change, we are at risk of drowning in the oceans through global warming.
