This work deals with the multi-faceted impact of gas flaring on a global scale and the different approach employed by researchers to measure gas flared and its resulting emissions. It gives an overview of methods employed by these researchers in the oil and gas industry, academia and governments in attempt to determine ways of measuring and reducing gas flaring and its emission drastically. This approach so far includes analytical studies, numerical studies, modeling, computer simulations, etc. the goal behind each study being to mitigate the effects of gas flaring. The outcome indicates that there is a seemingly absence of a single global method, emission factor and estimation procedure used in the oil and gas industry all over the world to determine the volume of gas flared and its emissions be it from complete or incomplete combustion, sweet or sulphur present hydrocarbons and this poses a continuous problem in determining the actual impact of gas flaring and its emissions on human and its role in environmental degradation both at a local and global level. An attempt has also being made to cover up-to-date trends in gas flaring and current developments in some of the most flared countries

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The world today recognizes the significance of environmental sustainability to the development of nations. Hence, the role oil and gas industry plays in environmental degrading activities such as gas flaring is of global concern. This study presents material balance equations and predicts results for non-hydrocarbon emissions such as CO 2 , CO, NO, NO 2 , and SO 2 etc. from flaring (combustion) of 12 natural gas samples representing composition of natural gas of global origin. Gaseous emission estimates and pattern were modelled by coding material balance equations for six reaction types and combustion conditions with a computer program. On the average, anticipated gaseous emissions from flaring natural gas with an average annual global flaring rate 126 bcm per year (between 2000 and 2011) in million metric tonnes (mmt) are 560 mmt, 48 mmt, 91 mmt, 93 mmt and 50 mmt for CO 2 , CO, NO, NO 2 and SO 2 respectively. This model predicted gaseous emissions based on the possible individual combustion types and conditions anticipated in gas flaring operation. It will assist in the effort by environmental agencies and all concerned to track and measure the extent of environmental pollution caused by gas flaring operations in the oil and gas industry. Ó 2015 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).