[chris (OP)]

Dennis Tavoda wrote to say:

Saw a bit on this in the news & posted to Fritz Coleman, on FB and after seeing more in the news before but nothing​ newer since is it plausible for enough methane to control rain a few or more months?  1 part on this, Wikipedia has that for 1 increment: 109k volume, from Oct 2016 to Feb, & a few more wks again in March 2017, leaks occurred and who's accounting​ for past years leaks?

Can Natural Gas, "accidentally leaking", in huge volume(s), in Porter Ranch, Pasadena hills, Aliso Cyn, & be causing even more water shortage, by directing rain clouds around or north? Is this another more money for some deal $$$$⏫⬆⏫⬆⏫ is it Chinatown, even bigger then ever,,,? Isn't this the very real world scenario of green house gas lofting up into the  upper atmosphere, or is this just too much arm chair sci-fi from a geeky guy?

What doe everyone think?

[Bored chemist]

What is a "cubic ton"?

[evan_au]

Methane is a much stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

But 109,000 tons (whether in a cube or any other shape) is a fairly small amount when diluted throughout the atmosphere.
In theory, methane is a lower-carbon fuel than coal (and in practice, it emits far fewer pollutants than coal or liquid hydrocarbons), but it was estimated that if as little as 3% of the methane escapes into the atmosphere, you have lost that advantage in reduced carbon.

It's rather tricky to corral something which is intangible, invisible, silent, tasteless and has no smell. I can see they will need to install infra-red cameras around methane production and storage facilities (only the US EPA seems about to be dismantled).

Some of California's multi-year climate swings are affected by the El Niño/La Niña cycles that affect the Pacific basin. Increasing sea-surface temperatures will affect the behavior of these swings.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o%E2%80%93Southern_Oscillation#On_precipitation