Slow global warming fast with MethaneSAT

Slow global warming fast with MethaneSAT

Climate change is out of control. People around the world are feeling the effects of global warming every day: drought, hunger, fires, extreme weather, rising seas.

Sometimes the problem feels too big to solve, but it’s not. We can avoid the worst impacts if we act now. That’s why we built MethaneSAT.

MethaneSAT’s game-changing opportunity

The fastest way to slow global warming is to slash methane pollution. Methane is
a potent greenhouse gas with over 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide, over the first 20 years after it’s released into the atmosphere. It’s also the main ingredient in natural gas.

Methane from fossil fuel operations, agriculture and other industries has a massively outsized influence on the climate. It’s responsible for about 30% of today’s global warming. But finding these invisible emissions is tough, and we don’t have a clear picture of where they are or who’s responsible for them.

This satellite does what no other can

MethaneSAT is the only methane-detecting satellite that sees the whole picture. It measures pollution from millions of small sources around the world that are a huge part of the problem.

It has one purpose — to speed up reductions in methane emissions as quickly as possible, so we can slow down global warming. MethaneSAT data will be public so that companies, governments and advocates can speed up emissions cuts, track progress and hold polluters truly accountable.

It’s the first satellite developed and funded by any environmental nonprofit organization, Environmental Defense Fund. And we launched it into orbit on March 4, 2024.

MSAT Video

MethaneSAT can determine methane levels from entire oilfields.
It can detect small emissions over wide areas that other satellites can’t see.
And it can pinpoint large emissions from single sources — to provide a complete picture of the methane problem.

Dig deeper into what makes MethaneSAT unique

EDF laid the groundwork for this extraordinary satellite with more than a decade of research on how methane contributes to global warming — and what to do about it:

MethaneSAT, a satellite that will measure and map methane pollution worldwide

You can slow global warming with MethaneSAT right now. Here’s how.

Donate

Help fund MethaneSAT to speed up cuts in methane pollution worldwide, at this critical moment in the climate fight. You’ll be helping companies and governments make the drastic cuts needed.

MethaneSAT in the news

EDF’s role putting methane in the global spotlight

EDF is the pioneering environmental organization that combined science, economics and advocacy to bring global attention to methane’s climate impact.
View methane timeline

Our approach of working with all kinds of partners uniquely positioned us to develop a solution like MethaneSAT.
Learn about partnerships

From aerospace giants to leading educational institutions, select partners include:

  • Ball Aerospace
  • Blue Canyon Technologies
  • Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
  • Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  • IO Aerospace
  • New Zealand Space Agency
  • SpaceX
Spin Me
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Top experts leading this mission

Scientists from EDF, Harvard University and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory partner on MethaneSAT. Meet some key EDF team members.

MEDIA CONTACT

Jon Coifman

(212) 616-1325 (office)

(917) 575-1885 (mobile)

MethaneSAT, a satellite that will measure and map methane pollution worldwide

You can slow global warming with MethaneSAT right now. Here’s how.

Donate

Help fund MethaneSAT to speed up cuts in methane pollution worldwide, at this critical moment in the climate fight. You’ll be helping companies and governments make the drastic cuts needed.