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Study: Gas Stoves Hurt the Environment…Even When Off

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Gas stoves contribute to global warming — even when they’re turned off.

That’s according to a new study conducted by researchers in California. They found that gas stoves leak methane regardless of whether they’re turned on — to the tune of 2.6 million tons a year. That’s the equivalent of greenhouse gas from 500,000 cars. “They’re constantly bleeding a little bit of methane into the atmosphere all the time,” says Stanford University’s Rob Jackson, a co-author of the study.

The methane gas leak is in addition to the 6.8 million tons of carbon dioxide that gas stoves belch into the atmosphere, according to the study. Carbon dioxide is less potent than methane, but stays in the atmosphere longer, Jackson says.

Do you prefer cooking with gas or methane?

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