The Los Angeles town of Porter Ranch is officially under a state of emergency because of a major natural gas leak.
California Gov. Jerry Brown issued the declaration Jan. 6, 2016, nearly 11 weeks after the massive underground leak of methane sprung on Oct. 23, 2015. Southern California Gas Company, which owns the gas resevoir, says its workers can't plug the gusher until March.
A whopping 160 million pounds of methane has poured into the sky, UC Davis scientist Stephen Conley said in a Jan. 7 press release.
Methane is a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide, yet it is capable of warming the planet tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times more efficiently.
"[T]he leak effectively doubles the emission rate for the entire Los Angeles Basin," Conley said in a press release. "On a global scale, this is big."
Here's the impact the leak has had on the environment, in terms of its "carbon dioxide equivalent," so far.
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NOW WATCH: This massive Los Angeles county gas leak is spewing 110,000 pounds of methane an hour