One place in the United States is making it harder for the world to lower ethane levels.
For the last five or six years, there's been a big mystery in climate science: What's behind the sudden rise in global ethane gas emissions?
Ethane is a hydrocarbon (a gas made of hydrogen and carbon) and is the second most common one in the atmosphere.
A simulation showing surface ozone levels over the U.S. GIF via Michigan Engineering/YouTube.
One of the main sources of ethane is the process of drilling for fossil fuels. When ethane enters the atmosphere, it can react with sunlight and other molecules to form ozone, which is a greenhouse gas.
Ethane emissions were steadily decreasing until about 2009, when they started to crawl back up again — and no one could really explain why.
Scientists had their suspicions, though: One thing that seemed to coincide with the rise in ethane emissions was a rise in shale oil and gas production in the U.S. using a process called hydraulic fracturing.
A hydraulic fracturing site in Pennsylvania. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.
Hydraulic fracturing (referred to as "fracking") is a controversial process wherein drills inject fluid into underground shale formations in order to fracture them and release their oil.
Fracking is already responsible for water contamination, according to a report by the EPA, and releasing toxic chemicals into the air, which can cause health problems for those living nearby.
Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images.
Ethane emission is just one more thing added to the list of dangerous consequences of fracking.
A massive amount of these ethane emissions are coming from a single (huge) place called the Bakken Formation.
Stretching across parts of North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, the Bakken Formation is a massive oil and gas field that contains many pockets of oil thousands of feet below the surface.
Sections of pipe waiting to be welded together in North Dakota. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images.
So how much ethane are we talking about?
Oil production at the Bakken Formation jumped by a factor of 350 between 2005 and 2014, and with that rise came a rise in ethane emissions.
At the Bakken Formation alone, about 250,000 tons of ethane are produced per year. Which accounts for 2% of the total ethane globally.
"Two percent might not sound like a lot," Eric Kort, assistant professor of climate and space sciences at the University of Michigan, told ScienceDaily, but the emissions in the Bakken Formation are "10 to 100 times larger than reported in inventories" and they "directly impact air quality across North America."
A worker on an oil rig in North Dakota's Bakken region. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images.
Ethane emissions on this scale are harmful in many ways.
Besides the greenhouse-warming effect they can have on our planet, they're also a surface-level air pollutant.
In fact, they're one of the pollutants the national Air Quality Index measures when it wants to let people know that breathing outside for extended periods of time could be harmful.
Rural North Dakota, which sits atop the Bakken formation. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images.
Ethane also forms ozone on the surface. Ozone up in the stratosphere is good because it protects us from the sun's ultraviolet rays. But when it forms on the surface and is breathed in by people, it can cause lung damage, worsen asthma and emphysema, and even damage ecosystems.
The fact that one region in the U.S. is poisoning the air on a massive scale should amaze you just as much as it scares you.
"These findings not only solve an atmospheric mystery — where that extra ethane was coming from — they also help us understand how regional activities sometimes have global impacts," said Colm Sweeney, a scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.
We're all living in the same climate.
Actions on a regional level don't just affect us here in America or those living near the Bakken Formation, they affect the air people breathe the world over. If one area in the United States can suddenly start creating 2% of global air pollution, imagine what else increases in oil production can be capable of.
A kid living in the Bakken region. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images.
On the other hand, if we can do that much damage in such a short amount of time, surely we can move quickly to do some good too.
Sure, putting an efficient lightbulb in your kitchen isn't going to save the world, but as we've seen, actions large and small, especially on a regional level, can have big impacts.
If we as individuals decide to start being energy efficient quickly and on a massive scale, the way oil companies decided to drill the Bakken Formation quickly on a massive scale, maybe companies would follow suit, and then, who knows what positive effects we'd see?
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."