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so that the overall amount of methane in the atmosphere should increase as more is produced, but should not build up over time
Are they not the same thing?
Not quite, although I could have put it a lot better. Let's say that a certain amount of methane is produced every day - P - and a certain amount of methane is removed every day - R. There is a certain amount of methane in the atmosphere, M.
If the amount of methane produced is equal to the amount of methane removed, P = R, so at the end of the day, the amount of methane is M (the amount already present) + P (the amount added) - R (the amount removed). So M at the end of the day (let's call it M') is the same as it was at the start of the day.
M' = M + P - R = M
If, however, more methane is added than is removed, P > R. So the amount of methane at the end of the day is higher than it was at the start.
M' = M + P - R
but this time:
M' > M
Which means that as time goes on, the overall amount of methane present will go up, and up, and up.
In the first instance, although at any given time there will be more methane in the atmosphere, it will also be being removed at a greater rate, so while the amount present is indeed higher, it's not growing. Like, say, a bank account, you put some money in, you take the same amount out; although there's more money in the account temporarily, it's not going up all the time. In the second, more methane is added all the time, so like a bank account where you put more money in every day than you took out, the amount in the account will go up all the time.
What I was trying to say was that I think that the sink for atmospheric methane should scale according to the amount of methane present, so that while having lots of methane producing cows is bad, at least it shouldn't create a lasting problem, that is, if the cows stop producing so much methane the problem will go away quickly, it's not lasting damage.
Sorry I wasn't clearer. |
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