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The Climate Question

The Climate Question

Is cutting methane the quick way to cool the planet?

1 March 2026

25 minutes

Available for over a year

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