It added that while CO2 was also a greenhouse gas, its effect was “much less strong than that of methane, making the conversion of methane to carbon dioxide good climate news”.
Additionally, the researchers concluded that Greenland “will not impact the total global amount of atmospheric methane or prove decisive for the Arctic methane budget”.
“The absorption of methane in Greenland is very low compared to other known methane sources,” the statement said, referring to places such as Siberia.
Methane remains in the atmosphere for 12 years, compared to CO2’s centuries, but its greenhouse effect is 25 times more powerful than CO2.
In the Arctic, it is released into the atmosphere as a result of melting permafrost.