Turkmenistan, a country in Central Asia, is currently facing a major environmental crisis. Turkmenistan has faced methane gas leakage cases in the past, but this time, the quantities are such that it is harder to bring it back under control. High levels of methane gas in the environment lead to less oxygen in the atmosphere, causing a significant drawback for all the lifeforms in the area.
Data reports that Western fossil fuel fields (on the coast of the Caspian Sea) leaked over 2.9 million tons (2.6 million metric tonnes) of methane in 2022. During that timeline, the eastern field emitted almost 2 million tons (1.8 million metric tonnes). This has increased dramatically since the first surge of methane gas in 2007. Even then, experts said, “This can be fixed easily,” but no response in the form of actions has been visible throughout the years. Hence, Turkmenistan has the most methane super-emitter events in the world. These events must stop soon, to stop global warming and climate change from worsening in Turkmenistan. These methane emissions are the biggest threat to keeping the temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius of global heating.
The methane gas leakages can be fixed quickly, without any extra funds, but it has come to light that Turkmenistan’s president neglected the leaks in the Eastern and Western fields. The leaks could have been cured quickly, and this crisis would never have happened had the president taken serious action proactively.
Therefore, to curb methane gas emission leaks in Turkmenistan, the first step should be to pressure the president to realise the crisis his country is in and how he is jeopardising neighbouring countries as well. The prolonged negligence of these leaks will only cause more harm. The citizens should appeal to the Turkmenistan government and ensure proper action is taken before its too late.