The victim called town's 24-hour emergency dispatch focus on 10:10 a.m. Monday and reported that he had just been robbed and sexually assaulted on the preserve at 2500 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto police said in a news release.

Officers searched the realm but didn’t find the suspect.

The victim told officers he was riding his e-bike on the Adobe Creek Loop Trail south of the Compass Road area of ​​Byxbee Park when he stopped to make a phone call. Then one other man grabbed him from behind and began searching his pockets.

The suspect then took off the victim's pants and sexually assaulted him, police said.

The suspect then rode away on the victim's e-bike, taking his wallet and pants with him, the police said.

The victim told officers the suspect was in his early 20s. He was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt and white shorts.

There have been no similar crimes in town recently, police said, adding that investigators were in search of witnesses who were on the trail Monday morning who could have seen something.

Anyone with information can contact police at 650-329-2413. Those wishing to stay anonymous can call or text 650-383-8984 or email paloalto@tipnow.org.

The California Department of Public Health reported the fourth case of an individual within the state infected with bird flu on Thursday afternoon.

The infected person was from the Central Valley and had contact with infected dairy cows. All 4 people had contact with infected animals on 4 different farms. Authorities concluded that there was no known connection between any of the confirmed cases, suggesting the disease spread directly from animals to humans.

State health officials were also notified of two additional possible human cases of avian influenza within the Central Valley, samples were collected and sent to the CDC for confirmation.

Those infected showed mild symptoms, including eye redness or discharge, and none were hospitalized. The risk of avian flu infection to most of the people is low, however the state health department expects more avian flu cases amongst individuals who interact with infected dairy cows.

Bird flu, also often known as bird flu, is a viral infection that the majority commonly affects birds. it could impact wildlife and reduce food supplies. People will be infected, but person-to-person transmission of the virus is rare. The H5N1 virus is essentially the most common pathogen causing bird flu in humans. According to the Cleveland ClinicThe death rate from bird flu in humans is over 50%.

Some individuals with bird flu may experience only mild symptoms or no symptoms in any respect, but many turn into seriously in poor health. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, cough, muscle aches, sore throat, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, stuffy or runny nose, and shortness of breath.

On Thursday, the California Department of Food and Agriculture announced that 99 dairy herds in Central California were infected with bird flu. State health officials beneficial personal protective equipment for those working with animals or materials that could be infected with the bird flu virus, equivalent to face shields or goggles to guard eyes, N95 masks and gloves.

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, this current nationwide outbreak of bird flu in poultry began in 2022. It was first identified in dairy cows in March.

Federal scientists took samples from the primary two people within the Central Valley infected with bird flu to seek out out whether the virus mutates in ways in which make it more more likely to infect other people, turn into proof against antiviral drugs or cause serious illness. The tests would also show whether the employees were infected from cattle they worked with or elsewhere, and the way the disease spread from state to state. The results of this test are still pending.

Originally published: October 10, 2024 at 8:48 p.m

PLEASANTON – A lady said her boyfriend was killed by burglars who briefly held her against her will and butchered the 32-year-old man within the couple's lounge. But prior to now 12 months, her story has completely unraveled, in line with police.

On Thursday, Pleasanton police homicide detectives arrested the girlfriend, 27-year-old Kennedy Stith, on charges of killing her boyfriend with a knife last 12 months. Stith has not yet been charged, but a rescheduled date has been set for Monday. Police are expected to soon forward the case to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office for charges, records show.

The victim, 32-year-old Edevion White, was stabbed to death within the lounge of his Owens Drive apartment on May 1, 2023. After his death, family and friends contacted investigators with suggestions that White had recorded videos of Stith behaving aggressively and threatening him. Those White confidants also told authorities he had a premonition: If he died under mysterious circumstances, they need to take a look at Stith first, authorities said.

Stith was the one who called 911 on the day of the murder, but her evolving story immediately raised alarm with police. While on the phone with dispatchers, she allegedly stated there was an ongoing “domestic dispute” at home. When police arrived on the bloody crime scene, she had a unique version of events, police said.

She allegedly told investigators that two robbers broke into the home, certainly one of them with a gun. One of the boys held her at gunpoint within the kitchen while the opposite fought with Stith in one other a part of the home and stabbed him once within the chest. The robbers then fled the apartment, she claimed.

According to police, there are striking discrepancies between their testimony and the crime scene. First, White's body fell next to the front door of the home, making it difficult for police to get in and any robbers to get out. White's blood was found everywhere in the apartment, although the story says the fight took place within the lounge.

Investigators' suspicions were heightened when Stith and her mother – who was on the couple's home that day – each failed to indicate up for a scheduled interview. Police say Stith also never inquired concerning the status of the investigation after she gave her initial statement on the day of the murder.

White's family and friends who’ve come forward said the couple incessantly argued about money, particularly over proceeds from the sale of psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana. During certainly one of the arguments, Stith allegedly pulled out a knife and threatened to kill White, police said.

Police last month publicly appealed for information in reference to the murder and said they were pursuing latest leads.

Stith was arrested in Oakland on Thursday and stays in custody without bail. Police announced her arrest in a news release on Friday morning.

“The City of Pleasanton extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Edevion White and we are working closely with them during this difficult time,” the press release said.

Originally published: September 13, 2024 at 9:17 am

REDWOOD CITY – A person on the state's sex offender registry was arrested late last month after a teenage girl accused him of sexually assaulting her after he offered her drugs in a parking garage, police said.

The reported victim, a 14-year-old, went to an unspecified parking garage with a 13-year-old friend to drink alcohol around 10 p.m. on the evening of July 31, in accordance with a Redwood City police news release.

Once there, the 2 children were approached by a person walking a dog, who “encouraged” them to drink and gave them marijuana, police reported.

At some point, the 13-year-old went home and the person later sexually abused the girl, as she told police. The girl reported that she stopped the assault by distracting her and that in some unspecified time in the future the person also offered her cocaine.

The police were called after receiving a call a few house where the 14-year-old was allegedly drunk. She then described the alleged assault, the press release states.

Based on an outline of the girl, officers identified 32-year-old George Bautista Zarate as a suspect and served a search warrant for his residence. During the search, they reportedly found “several pieces of evidence linking him to the sexual assault.”

Bautista Zarate was found and arrested after the search was conducted, police said. Jail records show he’s being held at Maguire Correctional Facility despite failing to post $250,000 bail. He was arrested on suspicion of 4 sex crimes, enticement of minors to commit crimes and delivery of marijuana to minors.

In the news release, police said Bautista Zarate is a registered sex offender. Details concerning the crime that put him on the state registry weren’t immediately available Wednesday. He is just not on Megan's Law's online sex offender list, which excludes certain people based on aspects resembling the severity of their crime and their parole status.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reported dead after the helicopter he was in crashed on May 19, 2024is an absolute loyalist whose death will probably be a serious blow to the country's conservative leadership.

As search and rescue teams – hampered by rain, fog, forests and mountains – looked for wreckage, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the nation “should pray for Raisi”..

As Expert on Iran's domestic and foreign policyI consider that concerns in Tehran may extend beyond the potential human tragedy of the crash. The change this can force can have necessary implications for an Iranian state that will probably be consumed by it domestic chaos and regional and international confrontation.

Who is Ebrahim Raisi?

Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Raisi served as zealous apparatchik of the Islamic Republic and a distinguished protégé of Khameneiwho, as supreme leader, holds absolute power within the Islamic Republic.

Before becoming president in 2021, Raisi held various positions throughout the judiciary under the leadership of the Supreme Leader. As a prosecutor and at the top of the Iran-Iraq War In 1988 he sat on the committee that sentenced 1000’s of political prisoners to death.

The executions earned him the nickname “theButcher of Tehranafter which subdued him Sanctions by the United States and condemnation by the United Nations and international human rights organizations.

Raisi since 2006 was a member of the expert assemblya body that appoints and oversees the supreme leader.

And although he lacked charisma and eloquence, Raisi, 63, was regarded as it prepared for achievement the 85-year-old Khamenei as supreme leader.

A checkered domestic record

Domestically, Raisi was president each the cause and the consequence a crisis of legitimacy and social chaos for the regime.

He won controversially 2021 presidential election after a high variety of candidate disqualifications by the Guardian Council, which vets candidates, and a historically low variety of voters Voter turnout of lower than 50%.

To appease his conservative base, Raisi and his government strengthened the moral police and reimposed religious restrictions on society. These policies led to the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests sparked by the movement Death in police custody by Mahsa Amini in 2022. The demonstrations proved successful largest and longest in the virtually 50-year history of the Islamic Republic. They also led to unprecedented state repression, Over 500 demonstrators were killed and tons of more were injured, disappeared and imprisoned. During the protests, Raisi demonstrated his loyalty to the supreme leader and conservative elites by tightening restrictions and crackdowns.

Meanwhile, the Iranian economy under Raisi continued to suffer from a mixture of things Government mismanagement and corruptiontogether with US sanctions which have increased in response Tehran's domestic political repression and provocations abroad.

Confrontation for rapprochement

The domestic political turmoil under Raisi's presidency was accompanied by changes in Iran's regional and international role.

As supreme leader, Khamenei has the ultimate say on foreign policy. But Raisi presided over a state that continued on its path confrontation along with his opponentsespecially the USA and Israel.

And whether by alternative or out of perceived necessity: Tehran has moved further and further away from any idea of ​​rapprochement with the West.

Given the tightened US sanctions, Iran under Raisi is reluctant to revive the nuclear deal. Instead, Iran has increased uranium enrichment, blocked international inspectors and develop into a nuclear threshold state.

Raisi also continued: ““Look East” policy his predecessor Hassan Rouhani. To this end, he and his government sought a better rapprochement with China.

Beijing, in turn, has provided an economic lifeline by importing Iranian oil and brokering a diplomatic agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March 2023.

However, under Raisi's presidency, Iran continued this act as an ally and donor of conflicts against the USA and against the West, the availability of combat drones to Russia to be used in Ukraine and the availability of weapons to varied regional proxies within the Middle East.

Since the war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, Iran under Khamenei and Raisi has maintained a fragile balance: allowing its regional proxies to act against Israel and the United States while avoiding direct confrontation with each countries, which is conventional are superior enemies.

This balance was temporarily upset when the Islamic Republic directly attacked Israel with drones and missiles for the primary time in history in April in retaliation for an attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Although in a roundabout way answerable for foreign policy, Raisi has been a key supporter of the Iranian regime because it sought to further distance itself from the established international order and seek alliances with countries similarly hostile to the West.

At the time of the helicopter crash, Raisi and his colleagues were getting back from a dam inauguration ceremony in neighboring Azerbaijan. The ceremony was likely intended as Iran's try and curry favor with Azerbaijan, having previously taken an ambiguous, if not controversial, position within the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – which ended with a convincing victory for Azerbaijan in late 2023.

What a change in president could mean

In Raisi, Supreme Leader Khamenei had a long-time loyalist, a regime insider and a possible successor.

According to the Iranian structure, any death of a president ends in the primary vp serving as interim president. In this case that might mean Mohammad Mokhber, who’s a politician very just like Raisi and who was a politician distinguished member of the Iranian team negotiating arms deals with Moscow.

Iran would must do the identical to carry presidential elections inside 50 days. It stays to be seen who the supreme leader would approve of as future president and potential successor.

But it is much from certain that Tehran's conservatives will remain on top of things given the inner and external pressures they face.

Domestically, this might take the shape of greater state repression and electoral manipulation. At the regional and international levels, I consider this might mean forging stronger relationships with emerging allies and pursuing a calculated confrontation with traditional adversaries.

A house that sold for $2.1 million tops the list of costliest home sales in Milpitas last week.

A complete of 17 home sales were recorded in the realm last week, with a median price of $1.3 million. The average price per square foot was $864.

Prices within the list below are for property sales where title was recorded the week of May sixth, although the property could have been sold earlier.

10. $1.3 million, condo within the 1600 block of Lee Way

The property within the 1600 block of Lee Way in Milpitas has recent owners. The price was $1,300,000. The condominium was inbuilt 2013 and has a living space of 1,512 square meters. The price per square foot is $860. The residential complex has two bedrooms and three bathrooms.

9. Single-family home valued at $1.3 million within the 1400 block of Arizona Ave.

The sale of the single-family home within the 1400 block of Arizona Ave., Milpitas has closed. The asking price was $1,325,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in May. The house was inbuilt 1964 and has 1,962 square meters of living space. The price per square foot was $675. The house has six bedrooms and three bathrooms.

8. $1.4 million, single-family home on first block of Cedar Court

The 1,527-square-foot single-family home on the primary block of Cedar Court, Milpitas has been sold. The transfer of ownership was accomplished in May and the whole purchase price was $1,400,000, $917 per square foot. The house was inbuilt 1969. The house has 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms.

7. Single-family home valued at $1.4 million within the 2000 block of Tiny Street

The property within the 2000 block of Tiny Street in Milpitas has recent owners. The price was $1,440,000. The house was inbuilt 1958 and has a living space of 1,024 square meters. The price per square foot is $1,406. The house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

6. Single-family home valued at $1.4 million within the 400 block of Matthews Court

The 1,688-square-foot single-family home within the 400 block of Matthews Court in Milpitas has been sold. The transfer of ownership was accomplished in May and the whole purchase price was $1,440,000, $853 per square foot. The house was inbuilt 1961. The house has five bedrooms and two bathrooms.

5. Single-family home valued at $1.5 million within the 800 block of Pepper Place

The sale of the single-family home within the 800 block of Pepper Place in Milpitas has closed. The asking price was $1,500,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in May. The house was inbuilt 2017 and the whole living space is 1,657 square meters. The price per square foot was $905. The house has three bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.

4. $1.6 million, condo within the 200 block of Baja Rose Street

The sale of a condominium within the 200 block of Baja Rose Street in Milpitas has closed. The price was $1,589,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the condo in May. The condominium was inbuilt 2018 and has a living space of two,134 square meters. The price per square foot was $745. The residential complex has three bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.

3. $1.7 million, condo within the 600 block of Amalfi Loop

The sale of a condominium within the 600 block of Amalfi Loop in Milpitas has closed. The asking price was $1,650,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the condo in April. The condominium was inbuilt 2019 and has 1,988 square meters of living space. The price per square foot was $830. The residential complex has three bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.

2. Single-family home valued at $1.7 million within the 700 block of Parvin Drive

The 1,318-square-foot single-family home within the 700 block of Parvin Drive in Milpitas has been sold. The transfer of ownership was accomplished in May and the whole purchase price was $1,715,000, $1,301 per square foot. The house was inbuilt 1972. The house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

1. Single-family home valued at $2.1 million within the 2100 block of Mesa Verde Drive

A sale has been accomplished for the single-family home within the 2100 block of Mesa Verde Drive in Milpitas. The asking price was $2,075,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in April. The house was inbuilt 1971 and the whole living space is 1,970 square meters. The price per square foot was $1,053. The house has five bedrooms and three bathrooms.

A house that sold for $3.4 million tops the list of the most costly residential sales in San Jose last week.

A complete of 107 home sales were recorded in the realm last week, with a median price of $1.6 million. The average price per square foot was $950.

Prices within the list below are for property sales where title was recorded the week of April twenty ninth, although the property can have been sold earlier.

10. $2.6 million single-family home within the 800 block of Portswood Circle

The property within the 800 block of Portswood Circle in San Jose has latest owners. The price was $2,600,000. The house was in-built 1977 and has 2,216 square meters of living space. The price per square foot is $1,173. The house has 4 bedrooms and three bathrooms.

9. Single-family home valued at $2.7 million on the 700 block of Fleming Ave.

The 2,691-square-foot single-family home within the 700 block of Fleming Ave. in San Jose was sold. The transfer of ownership was accomplished in April and the full purchase price was $2,675,000, $994 per square foot. The house was in-built 1956. The house has 4 bedrooms and five bathrooms.

8. $2.7 million single-family home within the 6500 block of Rolling Oaks Drive

The sale of the single-family home within the 6500 block of Rolling Oaks Drive in San Jose has closed. The price was $2,700,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in April. The house was in-built 1985 and has 2,450 square meters of living space. The price per square foot was $1,102. The house has 4 bedrooms and three bathrooms.

7. Single-family home valued at $2.7 million within the 6500 block of Dartmoor Way

The sale of the single-family home within the 6500 block of Dartmoor Way in San Jose has closed. The price was $2,708,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in April. The house was in-built 1960 and the full living space is 1,300 square meters. The price per square foot was $2,083. The house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

6. $2.9 million single-family home within the 2300 block of Walden Square

The 2,392-square-foot single-family home within the 2300 block of Walden Square, San Jose, has sold. The transfer of ownership was accomplished in April and the full purchase price was $2,871,500, $1,200 per square foot. The house was in-built 1967. The house has 4 bedrooms and three bathrooms.

5. Single-family home valued at $3 million within the 2500 block of Plummer Ave.

The sale of the single-family home within the 2500 block of Plummer Ave., San Jose, has closed. The price was $3,000,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in April. The house was in-built 1999 and has 3,256 square meters of living space. The price per square foot was $921. The house has five bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.

4. Single-family home valued at $3.2 million within the 2500 block of Marsha Way

The property within the 2500 block of Marsha Way in San Jose has latest owners. The price was $3,150,000. The house was in-built 1953 and has 2,288 square meters of living space. The price per square foot is $1,377. The house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

3. Single-family home valued at $3.2 million within the 1000 block of Carolyn Ave.

The sale of the single-family home within the 1000 block of Carolyn Ave. in San Jose is accomplished. The price was $3,150,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in April. The house was in-built 1928 and has 3,195 square meters of living space. The price per square foot was $986. The house has three bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.

2. Single-family home valued at $3.4 million within the 5700 block of Harder Street

The property within the 5700 block of Harder Street in San Jose has latest owners. The price was $3,400,000. The house was in-built 1958 and has 1,957 square meters of living space. The price per square foot is $1,737. The house has 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms.

1. Single-family home valued at $3.4 million within the 2300 block of Richland Ave.

The sale of the single-family home within the 2300 block of Richland Ave., San Jose, has closed. The price was $3,425,000 and the house modified hands in April. The house was in-built 2007 and has 3,952 square meters of living space. The price per square foot was $867. The house has six bedrooms and five bathrooms.

A house that sold for $3 million tops the list of most costly home sales in Oakland last week.

A complete of 75 home sales were recorded in the world last week with a median price of $946,780. The average price per square foot was $627.

Prices within the list below are for property sales where title was recorded the week of April 15, although the property can have been sold earlier.

10. Single-family home valued at $1.5 million within the 7800 block of Hansom Drive

The sale of the single-family home within the 7800 block of Hansom Drive, Oakland, has closed. The asking price was $1,500,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in March. The house was inbuilt 1972 and has a living space of two,100 square meters. The price per square foot was $714. The house has 4 bedrooms and three bathrooms.

9. $1.6 million single-family home on Cortereal Ave block. from 1900.

The 1,866-square-foot single-family home within the 1900 block of Cortereal Ave. in Oakland was sold. The transfer of ownership was accomplished in March and the full purchase price was $1,550,000, $831 per square foot. The house was inbuilt 1951. The house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

8. Single-family home valued at $1.7 million within the 4100 block of Huntington Street

The sale of the single-family home within the 4100 block of Huntington Street in Oakland has closed. The asking price was $1,650,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in March. The house was inbuilt 1955 and the full living space is 1,389 square meters. The price per square foot was $1,188. The house has two bedrooms and one bathroom.

7. $1.7 million single-family home on Hoover Ave block. from 1900.

The 2,015-square-foot single-family home within the 1900 block of Hoover Ave., Oakland, has been sold. The transfer of ownership was accomplished in March and the full purchase price was $1,700,000, $844 per square foot. The house was inbuilt 1931. The house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

6. Single-family home valued at $1.8 million within the 3800 block of Greenwood Ave.

The sale of the single-family home within the 3800 block of Greenwood Ave. in Oakland is accomplished. The asking price was $1,800,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in March. The house was inbuilt 1910 and has 2,308 square meters of living space. The price per square foot was $780. The house has five bedrooms and two bathrooms.

5. Single-family home valued at $2 million on the 5400 block of Masonic Ave.

The property within the 5400 block of Masonic Ave. in Oakland has latest owners. The prize was $2,000,000. The house was inbuilt 1920 and has 1,712 square meters of living space. The price per square foot is $1,168. The house has 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms.

4. Single-family home valued at $2.1 million within the 5100 block of Golden Gate Ave.

The property within the 5100 block of Golden Gate Ave. in Oakland has latest owners. The price was $2,060,000. The house was inbuilt 1925 and has 2,464 square meters of living space. The price per square foot is $836. The house has 4 bedrooms and three bathrooms.

3. Single-family home valued at $2.1 million within the 300 block of 62nd Street

The sale of the single-family home within the 300 block of 62nd Street in Oakland has closed. The asking price was $2,075,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in March. The house was inbuilt 1916 and the full living space is 1,677 square meters. The price per square foot was $1,237. The house has 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms.

2. Single-family home valued at $2.2 million within the 5500 block of Thomas Ave.

The sale of the single-family home within the 5500 block of Thomas Ave. in Oakland is accomplished. The asking price was $2,200,000 and the brand new owners took delivery of the house in March. The house was inbuilt 1918 and has 2,992 square meters of living space. The price per square foot was $735. The house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

1. Single-family home valued at $3 million within the 1500 block of Grand View Drive

The 4,315-square-foot single-family home within the 1500 block of Grand View Drive, Oakland, has been sold. The transfer of ownership was accomplished in March and the full purchase price was $2,950,000, $684 per square foot. The house was inbuilt 2021. The house has 4 bedrooms and five bathrooms.

Far more methane, a strong greenhouse gas, is produced released from landfills And Oil and gas operations Recent aerial and satellite surveys show that the variety of resources distributed around the globe is bigger than governments realized. This is an issue for the climate and human health. That can also be the rationale why the US government acted this manner Tightening of regulations about methane leaks and wasteful dumping, most recently Oil and gas wells on public lands.

The excellent news is that a lot of these leaks may be fixed – in the event that they are discovered quickly.

Riley Durena research scientist on the University of Arizona and former NASA engineer and scientist, leads Carbon Mapper, a nonprofit organization planning a constellation of methane monitoring satellites. Its first satellite, a partnership with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Earth imaging company Planet Labs, will launch in 2024.

Duren explained how latest satellites are transforming firms and governments' ability to search out and stop methane leaks and avoid wasting a beneficial product.

Why are methane emissions so worrying?

That's methane second most typical greenhouse pollutant for carbon dioxide. It doesn't stay within the atmosphere for that long — only a couple of decade in comparison with centuries for carbon dioxide — but it surely has an outsized effect.

methane Ability to warm the planet is nearly 30 times higher than that of carbon dioxide over 100 years and greater than 80 times higher over 20 years. You can consider methane as a really effective blanket, trapping heat within the atmosphere and warming the planet.

What worries many communities is that methane can also be a health problem. It is a precursor to ozone that may Asthma and bronchitis worsen And other lung problems. And in some cases, methane emissions are accompanied by others harmful pollutantslike benzene, a carcinogen.

In many oil and gas fields, lower than 80% of the gas that comes out of the bottom from a well is methane – the remainder may be dangerous air pollutants that you just don't want near your property or school. But until recently, there was little or no direct monitoring to search out and stop leaks.

Why are satellites needed to detect methane leaks?

In its natural form, methane is invisible and odorless. You probably wouldn't know there was an enormous cloud of methane round the corner unless you had special instruments to detect it.

Traditionally, firms have recorded their methane emissions using a Nineteenth-century method called inventory. Inventories calculate emissions based on reported production at oil and gas wells or the quantity of waste that results in a landfill, where organic waste produces methane when it decomposes. This assumption-based accounting leaves a variety of room for error; For example, unknown leaks or persistent vents should not taken under consideration.

Until recently, the state-of-the-art for leak detection in oil and gas operations was for a technician to go to a well with a hand-held infrared camera or gas analyzer roughly every 90 days. But an enormous leak can set one free huge amount of gas over a period of several days and weeks or can occur in places which are difficult to access, so a lot of these so-called super emitters remain undetected.

With distant sensing satellites and aircraft, nonetheless, large areas may be surveyed quickly and routinely. Some of the newer satellites, including those we’re launching through the Carbon Mapper Coalition, can do that Zoom in on individual web sites with high resolutionallowing us to pinpoint methane super-emitters to a particular well, compressor station, or section of landfill.

For an example of the ability of distant sensing, see our recent article within the journal Science. We conducted a survey 20% of open landfills within the US with aircraft and located that emissions were, on average, 40% higher than emissions reported to the federal government using assumption-based accounting.

If scientists can monitor regions ceaselessly and repeatedly from satellites, they’ll flag superemitter activity and quickly alert operators so that they can find the issue while it's still occurring and fix any leaks.

How do satellites detect methane from space?

Most satellites can detect methane some type of spectroscopy.

A typical camera sees the world in three colours – red, green and blue. The imaging spectrometers we use were developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and see the world in nearly 500 colours, including wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum into the infrared, which is significant Detect and measure greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide absorb heat within the infrared wavelength range – each with unique fingerprints. Our technology analyzes sunlight reflected from Earth's surface to detect the infrared fingerprints of methane and carbon dioxide within the atmosphere.

These signatures are different from all other gases, allowing us to map methane and carbon dioxide plumes to find out the origin of individual super-emitters. Once we measure the quantity of gas in a given cloud using spectroscopy, we will calculate an emission rate using the wind speed data.

What can the brand new satellites that Carbon Mapper desires to launch try this others don't yet have?

Each satellite has different and infrequently complementary capabilities. MethaneSat, which the Environmental Defense Fund just launched in March 2024, is sort of a wide-angle lens that can provide a really precise and complete picture of methane emissions across large landscapes. Our Carbon Mapper Coalition satellites will complement MethaneSAT by acting like a set of telephoto lenses – we are going to give you the option to zoom in to locate individual methane emitters, just as we zoom in on a bird nesting in a tree.

Working with our partners at Planet Labs and NASA, we plan to launch the Carbon Mapper Coalition's first satellite in 2024 with the goal of expanding the constellation in the approaching years to ultimately provide day by day methane monitoring of high-priority regions on the to enable the entire world. It is estimated that about 90% of methane emissions come from the production and use of fossil fuels come from only 10% of the earth's surface. That's why we plan to focus the Carbon Mapper Coalition's satellites on oil, gas and coal producing basins; large urban areas with refineries, wastewater plants and landfills; and huge agricultural regions.

How is your monitoring data used?

Based on the experience we’ve got gained sharing our aircraft data with facility operators and regulators, we anticipate that much of our future satellite data can be used to guide leak detection and repair efforts.

Many oil and gas firms, landfill operators and a few large agricultural operations with Methane fermentation plants are motivated to search out leaks because methane is and may be beneficial in these cases be recorded and used. So, along with the climate and health impacts, methane leaks are tantamount to leaking profits into the atmosphere.

With routine satellite monitoring, we will quickly notify facility owners and operators so that they can diagnose and proper any problems, and we will proceed to observe sites to make sure leaks remain addressed.

Our data also can help warn surrounding communities of risks, educate the general public, and guide enforcement efforts when firms don’t voluntarily fix their leaks. By measuring trends in high methane emissions events over time and across catchments, we also can contribute to assessments of whether interventions are having their intended impact.