Blue Planet Prize Story

Professor Robert B. Jackson has worked to understand the global-scale carbon cycle in terrestrial ecosystems (plant roots and soil functions), and has continued conducting research on the measurement, detection, and reduction of methane.
A major ingredient of natural gas, known as city gas, methane has a significant effect not only on climate, but also on our health because it can leak from household gas appliances, buildings, and pipelines. On the other hand, methane has a shorter lifetime in the atmosphere, so cutting methane has a powerful near-term impact on the mitigation of climate change. Therefore, Professor Jackson believes that methane should be the first greenhouse gas to be addressed.
Professor Jackson also sees the air as something that can be restored like other things, calling it "atmospheric restoration," and suggests simple approaches that we can take in our daily lives.

Let’s make an atmospheric restoration plan!

The atmospheric restoration plan is a project designed to help children learn about sources of methane emissions, and allow them to consider measures that they can implement in their daily lives. Living things breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, and organic matter in oxygen-rich environments is converted into water and carbon dioxide. In environments without oxygen, however, methanogenic bacteria, which process acetic acids and methanol, become more dominant and release methane and carbon dioxide as end products. The inside of the intestines is an example of an environment without oxygen. Inside the intestines, methanogenic bacteria produce methane, the main ingredient in the gas that all animals pass. Another example is the paddies where rice is grown. Because rice cultivation requires that the paddies be flooded with water, the paddies lack oxygen. This environment allows methanogenic bacteria to thrive and produce methane. To counter this, rice farmers have developed a simple approach. For seven to ten days each month after planting, they temporally drain the water from their paddies in a process called "midterm drying." This allows oxygen to mix into the soil, preventing methanogenic bacteria from producing methane.

1. Use the Internet to identify sources of methane emissions and make notecards.

• Examples:
• Wetlands, permafrost, petroleum and gas mining, cattle and other livestock, rice cultivation, landfills, home appliances, etc.

2. Classify the cards into "natural sources" and "human-caused sources," and discuss what society as a whole and individuals can do to reduce emissions.

3. Make atmospheric restoration plans

• Examples:
• Buildings, households: Reduce the amount of gas used (cooking, water heaters, room heaters), replacing gas appliances with electric appliances, and the regular inspection of gas appliances
• Livestock: Reduce the consumption of beef (switch to alternatives such as chicken, pork, and fish)
• Wastes: Reduce food waste