Short answers, pulled from the story.
Natural gas is a fossil fuel made primarily of methane, about 95 percent, with small amounts of higher alkanes and traces of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and helium. It forms when layers of organic matter, primarily marine microorganisms, are thermally decomposed under heat and pressure over millions of years.
Natural gas is colorless and odorless, so a commercial odorizer such as methanethiol, which smells of rotten eggs, is added so people can detect leaks. In the US, the New London School explosion in 1937 in Texas pushed legislation requiring an odorant.
Many organizations criticize the word "natural" for masking the fuel's role in the climate crisis and prefer "fossil gas" or "methane gas" instead. A 2020 study of Americans found that across political identifications, the term "methane gas" led to better estimates of its harms and risks.
The shale gas revolution refers to the rapid rise of shale gas production using hydraulic fracturing, which made the United States the world's number one natural gas producer by 2014. It was described as one of the landmark events of the 21st century, with shale gas becoming a major source in the US and Canada since 2000.
Natural gas drives climate change because methane has 84 times the global-warming potential of carbon dioxide over 20 years and 28 times over 100 years, and it leaks throughout the supply chain. In 2020 natural gas use emitted about 7.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide including flaring, and its life cycle emissions run about 50 percent higher than emissions at the point of use.
The Netherlands is subsidizing a transition away from natural gas for all homes by 2050, and Amsterdam has allowed no new residential gas accounts since 2018. New gas appliance hookups are banned in New York State and the Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria in Australia banned new hookups starting the 1st of January 2024.