logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2025
10m 33s

The best way to lower Earth’s temperatur...

TED
About this episode

There's an invisible super-pollutant heating up the planet — but it's surprisingly easy to reduce, if we try. Revealing how methane contributes (way) more in the short term to global warming than carbon dioxide, chemical engineer Daniel Zavala-Araiza highlights the emerging technologies and bold new policies that are part of a worldwide effort to hold oil and gas companies accountable for polluting our skies with this harmful gas. It's an optimistic glimpse into a future where global cooperation and cutting-edge monitoring could rapidly slow climate change.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
The gift and power of emotional courage | Susan David (re-release)
Psychologist Susan David shares how the way we deal with our emotions shapes everything that matters: our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness. In this deeply moving, humorous and potentially life-changing talk, she challenges a culture that prizes positivity ove ... Show More
19m 12s
Jul 28
What music is for | Wallis Bird
Irish musician and songwriter Wallis Bird received her first guitar at six months old and has been chasing music ever since. After her TED2026 performance of three genre-bending original songs, Wallis sat down with TED music curator Anna Bulbrook – a musician herself – to talk ab ... Show More
37m 41s
Jul 27
What's your leadership language? | Rosita Najmi (re-release)
In a globe-trotting career that has spanned corporations, governments, nonprofits and philanthropy, Rosita Najmi has often found herself translating among them. Instead of focusing on leadership style, she makes the case for becoming fluent in the languages of leadership, explain ... Show More
10m 54s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2021
TED Climate: The fastest way to slow climate change | Ilissa Ocko
"Cutting methane is the single fastest, most effective opportunity to reduce climate change risks in the near term," says atmospheric scientist Ilissa Ocko. That's because, unlike carbon dioxide, methane's warming power doesn't come from a gradual buildup over time but is almost ... Show More
10m 22s
Oct 2025
How to pull the emergency brake on global warming | Mohamed A. Sultan
Landfills across African cities are catching fire and releasing methane, an invisible greenhouse gas with more short-term warming potential than CO2. Sustainable strategist Mohamed A. Sultan reveals how local communities are turning this crisis into opportunity, diverting hundred ... Show More
13m 23s
Feb 2022
The methane hunters
Methane traps more than 80 times as much heat as CO2 over the short term. So we could make a real difference on climate change this decade if we could stop leaking so much methane into the atmosphere. But before researchers and regulators can figure out how to do that, the methan ... Show More
22m 51s
Aug 2021
Methane - a climate solution?
The latest IPCC assessment raised alarm about the rate at which manmade emissions are contributing to climate change. Much of the focus for action is on reducing levels of carbon dioxide, however there is a more potent greenhouse gas, methane, produced by natural and industrial p ... Show More
1h 7m
Oct 2024
Invisible Threats
Last March, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket into space from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It carried more than 40 payloads on board, including a satellite called MethaneSAT, which was designed to track methane emissions around the globe. Cutting methane emissio ... Show More
35m 51s
Feb 2023
There's groundbreaking new science to help cut methane emissions, but is there the political will?
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Robert Stavins and Professor Daniel Jacob of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are at the forefront of new efforts to monitor and control methane, a potent greenhouse gas. It used to seem like methane wasn't such a big deal. It ... Show More
40m 35s
Nov 2021
Geoengineering The Planet
Even with the best efforts, it will be decades before we see any change in global temperatures through our mitigation efforts. Given the pace of global heating and the time lag before our emissions reductions have any impact, scientists are exploring additional ways of reducing g ... Show More
27m 23s