NASA Finds a Delaware-Sized Methane "Hot Spot" In the Southwest

merbs writes According to new satellite research from scientists at NASA and the University of Michigan this "hot spot" is "responsible for producing the largest concentration of the greenhouse gas methane seen over the United States—more than triple the standard ground-based estimate." It covers 2,500 square miles, about the size of Delaware. It is so big that scientists initially thought it was a mistake in their instruments. "We didn't focus on it because we weren't sure if it was a true signal or an instrument error," NASA's Christian Frankenberg said in a statement.

Comments

Relative sizes

[badger.foo]

For UK and European readers, "the size of Delaware" is just a tad more than a fourth of "the size of Wales".

Re:Relative sizes

[TheRaven64]

For speakers of Commonwealth English, 'a fourth' is American for 'a quarter'.

Re:Relative sizes

[Thanshin]

For everyone else, they're talking about 6,500 km2.

(Or, the combined area of about 1293017700000 ping pong balls)

Re:Relative sizes

[Anonymous Coward]

For geopolitically challenged environmentalist-globalist readers, Delaware is about the same size as the methane hotspot recently discovered in the American Southwest.

Whadda coincidence,

[Tablizer]

...it's over Rush Limbaugh's house.

-5 Flamebait