[labelbias]

There's absolutely no way these oil wells are leaking as much methane as Siberian plain slowly melting. I did a calculation a while ago and it ended up being equivalent to 125 years of 2019 CO2 emissions.

Once these natural stores of gas start getting into atmosphere due to 2nd-3rd-nth order effects these little gas leaks from human made oil wells are nothing.

[blunte]

Their relative insignificance doesn't mean we should not clean up after ourselves.

[Scramblejams]

Always a good idea to clean up after ourselves, but limited resources are limited, certainly inadequate to the big picture requirements (i.e. turn the planet's temperature down slightly and hold it there), and so prioritization is necessary if the goal is to be reached.

[jamcobs]

hi

[nogabebop23]

I'm more concerned with contamination of local surface ground water and into tributaries for water systems, but I'm in Alberta Canada where wells can have pretty nasty substances but tend to be located in the middle of nowhere.

[zackees]

Also the half life is 8.5-12 years, depending on who's counting. This means that the effects are short lived.

This is not a pressing problem facing the world.

[LatteLazy]

I'm not OP (and I think his comment sort of misses the point...) but even allowing for its shorter lifespan, methane is about 28 times more potent per kg over 100 years (the standard measure I believe).

People have actually argued that its "worse" in practise: enough CO2 to cause a 4 degree rise in 100 years takes 100 years to fully take effect. The equivalent in methane will means 4 degrees of warming in just 25ish years.

[mistrial9]

this is profoundly and all-too-conveniently incorrect in your casual conclusion there, and there are substantial research papers on the topic. Details on request