Is cutting methane the quick way to cool the planet?

From The Climate Question by BBC World Service

March 1, 2026 · 25 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of methane on climate change and explores potential solutions to reduce its emissions.

Methane is much more powerful than carbon dioxide and emissions are still rising. So what can we do to tackle the human-made sources of this greenhouse gas? And could this buy us time to get to grips with climate change? It's a topic which many Climate Question listeners have been contacting us about. So in this episode Hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar put some of your questions and comments to Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Sciences at University College London. What makes methane so powerful? Is meat production to blame? And what about leaks and gas-flaring in the fossil fuel industry? Got a question or comment, email us at theclimatequestion@bbc.com Production team: Simon Watts, Diane Richardson, Grace Braddock Sound Engineers: Tom Brignell and James Piper Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Simon Watts

People in this episode

Hosts: Graihagh Jackson, Jordan Dunbar

Guest: Mark Maslin

Topics covered

methane
climate change
greenhouse gases
fossil fuels
meat production
emissions

Keywords

methane
climate change
greenhouse gas
emissions
fossil fuels
meat production
gas-flaring

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University College London