Small ponds produce an outsized share of greenhouse gases

Have a look at this:

Tiny ponds play a disproportionately large role in global greenhouse gas emissions from inland waters, according to a new study by Yale's School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Source - user link on phys.org

Oh my.

Not surprising, really. Lots of natural sources of greenhouse gasses exist but humans are releasing CO2 that's been stored in the ground for millions upon millions of years - and releasing it far faster than it was stored.

I will say that the global climate is very complex and while humans play a role, there are an awful lot of other factors at play.

Apparently, cow flatulence contributes a surprising amount to the total CO2 in the air. I guess eating hamburgers kills the environment along with everything else.

I remember there was some debate about volcanoes putting out way more CO2 than human activity. It turned out that volanos actually put out less than 1% of that which humans do in a given year. God, hard to believe, but I guess it's true.