Meet methane, the invisible climate villain | Marcelo Mena

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A landfill on fire doesn't only emit a horrid stench — it has devastating consequences for the environment, too. The culprit is methane, an often underestimated greenhouse gas produced in large part by food systems, organic waste and yes, cow burps. Biochemical engineer Marcelo Mena explains the source of this sneaky pollutant, why its emissions need to be cut in half by 2050 — and what you can do to help.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective.
0:02.0	Audio Collective.
0:04.0	I'm at least Hugh.
0:10.0	It's Ted Talks Daily.
0:12.0	Marcello Menna's specialty is food waste and cow burps.
0:16.7	Why?
0:17.7	Because livestock and our uneaten food emit the harmful gas, methane. In his talk from the Ted Countdown Summit,
0:24.4	2023 he shares the ways he's using technology and satellite mapping to cut down
0:30.0	on organic waste around the world in order to effectively halt the dangers of climate change after short message.
0:40.0	Like TED Talks, you should check out the TED Radio Hour with NPR.
0:45.0	Stay tuned after this talk to hear a sneak peek of this week's episode.
0:50.0	This is the Gazepur landfill in Deli, India.
0:53.0	It's almost 20 stories high,
0:55.2	and it often collapses killing the waste pickers that work there.
0:59.0	Last year, when temperatures hit 43 degrees Celsius,
1:02.4	it caught fire three times in a month
1:04.2	and burned for 48 hours straight,
1:06.4	exposing the city to harmful particulate matter.
1:09.7	This happens because the organic waste in the landfill
1:13.6	decomposes to form methane, a highly flammable
1:16.5	and potent greenhouse gas.
1:18.9	And as we have more and more heat waves,
	...

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