Researchers have identified a new source of aerobic methane production in the root zones of aquatic plants. Unlike traditional methanogenesis, which requires oxygen-free environments, this process is driven by circadian redox oscillations. Iron minerals in the soil reduce at night and re-oxidize during the day, creating reactive oxygen species that release methane from organic matter. This discovery suggests that rice paddies may emit significantly more methane than previously estimated. Using a random forest model, the study estimates this abiotic process contributes between 1.9% and 13.2% of total paddy methane emissions, totaling up to 3.3 Tg per year.
