Currently in Boston — May 27th, 2022
The weather, currently.
It was another gorgeous sunny day and unless you're an avid gardener you probably aren't noticing just how dry it is. We will continue the relatively dry pattern for the foreseeable future although there is the chance for a few showers tomorrow night and Saturday morning.
These showers will be limited and some of the models actually have us missing them completely. That would be a worst case scenario and would aggravate what has become a short-term drought in much of Eastern Massachusetts.
Humidity levels will be higher Friday and Saturday. Temperatures will be in the 70s in the afternoon. Sunday and Monday will be the better weekend days with highs in the 70s Sunday and 80s on Memorial Day.
—Dave Epstein
What you need to know, currently.
Six idle wells in Bakersfield were found to be leaking methane last week, the Associated Press reports. Although Uduak-Joe Ntuk, head of the California Geologic Energy Management division of the California Department of Conservation, assured residents that the leaks were “minor in nature,” a report from the state showed that three wells were leaking methane at explosive levels.
Methane is a colorless, odorless gas that’s about 25 times as potent as CO2 when it comes to global warming. It’s also quite obviously a public safety hazard—even if it’s not leaking in concentrations high enough to blow up your house it can cause long-term respiratory, cardiological, and neurological issues and sometimes result in death.
A recent report in Environmental Science and Technology found that wells across New Mexico were emitting about six times as much methane as the EPA expected. Plugging all these abandoned wells isn’t easy, especially the older ones. Theoretically, oil and gas companies are obligated to plug wells when they go dry, but lax regulations and the boom and bust nature of the oil gas industry means there’s little oversight when this infrastructure is abandoned.
A report published in Environmental Research Letters last year, showed that curbing methane emissions could reduce the speed of global warming by as much as 30 percent.