Methane is a major greenhouse gas that is 28 times larger than carbon dioxide with a global warming potential. Atmospheric levels of CH4 have shown continued growth since 1750, reaching 1803 parts per billion in 2011. And have practically exponentially increased. Better knowledge of the CH4 budget will lessen uncertainty in future forecasts on climate change.

Wetlands account for roughly 18–41 percent of the worldwide emissions and are considered the biggest single source of CH4. Inversion estimates have calculated 50–70 percent of inter annual variability in world emissions in the quantity of Methane released by wetlands.