Environmental regulators might have underestimated the amount of greenhouse gas methane emitted in the U.S. by 50 percent, according to a new study released this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

For the study, scientists from a number of institutions found the error was greatest in south central U.S., where total emissions are five times higher than previously measured by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others organizations.

"(The findings also) cast doubt on the EPA's recent decision to downscale its estimate of national natural gas emissions by 25 to 30 percent," said the researchers in there report.

The EPA is currently setting federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions, and accurate measurements of methane. Methane is believed to be the second most prevalent greenhouse gas, according to the report. States are going to be asked to come up with their own plans to carry out those rules.

Methane emissions are also expected to be 1.5 times higher than the EPA's estimated, and 1.7 times higher than the International Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research's estimate.

"Effective national and state greenhouse gas reduction strategies may be difficult to develop without appropriate estimates of methane emissions from these source sectors," the report said.

The scientists' approach was different compared to that of the EPA's because they measured what is in the atmosphere by using "meteorological data and statistical analysis" according to Reuters.

The data used in the report was from 2007 and 2008. 

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