The greenhouse gases we’re not accounting for
Researchers around the world set to work unraveling the mystery, reviewing readings from satellites, aircraft, and greenhouse-gas monitoring stations. They eventually spotted a clear pattern: Methane emissions had increased sharply across the tropics, where wetlands were growing wetter and warmer. That created the ideal conditions for microbes that thrive in anaerobic muck, which gobbled up more of the carbon-rich organic matter and spat out more methane as a by-product. (Reduced pollution from