Atmospheric methane
Atmospheric methane has reached about 1,939 ppb (June 2026) — up roughly 19.3% since global monitoring began in 1983.
Source: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory. Data through June 2026. Download the data (JSON).
About this indicator
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas — far stronger than CO₂ over the short term, though it breaks down within a couple of decades. It comes from wetlands, agriculture (especially livestock and rice), landfills, and oil and gas operations.
After a brief plateau around 2000, atmospheric methane has been rising again, with an unusually sharp increase in recent years that scientists are still working to fully explain.
Why it matters: Because methane traps heat so effectively, cutting methane emissions is one of the fastest ways to slow warming in the near term.
How to read this chart
The vertical axis is parts per billion, or ppb — a thousand times finer than the ppm used for CO₂, because methane is far more dilute in the atmosphere. The value plotted is a globally averaged marine surface figure, so it smooths out the very large local differences you would measure near wetlands, livestock or gas infrastructure.
Compare the slope across decades rather than adjacent points. Methane's atmospheric lifetime is roughly a decade, so unlike CO₂ its concentration responds within years to a change in emissions, which is exactly why the recent steepening matters. The figures here are a snapshot from the last build, and the JSON download carries the full record behind the chart.