Exactly so, Methane has about 25 times more efficiency in green house effect, but its concentration is lower than CO2 in atmosphere.Methane absorbs IR absorption bands centered at 3.0 micrometer and 8.0 micrometer for much longer time, increasing temperature to a larger extent.
Methane (CH4) which is twenty times more effective than carbon dioxide (CO2) is increasing at the rate of 1 per cent per annum. Paddy fields, swamps and marshes are the principal source of methane to the atmosphere. In addition to these, enteric fermentation in cattle and insects is also the source of methane to the atmosphere. During the past 100 years the concentration of methane has more than doubled (from 7.0 x 10-7 to 15.5 x 10-7). Methane gas increases stratospheric water vapour on oxidation. The rise in water vapour is really more important source of green house effect than the direct effect of methane gas. Methane concentration in the atmosphere has increased 150 per cent since 1750. By about 2050 methane will become a principal green house gas. Its contribution to global warming is 20 per cent.
Reference:
Singh, A. (2006). Global warming. Yojana 50(6):45-47
Methane in the Earth's atmosphere is a strong greenhouse gas with a global warming potential (GWP) 104 times greater than CO2 in a 20-year time frame.
methane is not as persistent a gas as CO2 and tails off to about GWP of 28 for a 100-year time frame.
This means that a methane emission will have 28 times the impact on temperature of a carbon dioxide emission of the same mass over the following 100 years.
Methane has a large effect but for a relatively brief period, having an estimated lifetime of 9.1 years in the atmosphere,whereas carbon dioxide has a small effect for a long period, having an estimated lifetime of over 100 years.