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The release of methane from underneath Arctic ice is expected to be a major issue in coming years as permafrost melts (if we don’t act to stop climate change soon). Methane is about 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2 over a 100-year time period and about 72 times more potent over a 20-year time period. As the National Science Foundation has noted: “Release of even a fraction of the methane stored in the shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming.”
Dr Joe Romm also noted: “Methane release from the not-so-perma-frost is the most dangerous amplifying feedback in the entire carbon cycle.”
Now, the release of methane is already happening to a small degree and, in the video below, University of Alaska Fairbanks Professor Katey Walter Anthony shows us the process in the real world and the fun people can have “exploding” the leaking methane gas.
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Zachary Shahan
If you couldn't guess, I spend most of my time on CleanTechnica and Planetsave. I'm the director/editor of both sites and am a little obsessed with them and the topics they cover. I'm also Publishing Services Manager at Important Media, which means that I do everything I can to support other Important Media writers, editors, and directors (as well as the network as a whole) in the good work they are engaged in. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Change.org, most of the sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. For more, or to connect, go to: zacharyshahan.com
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Neat, short piece and right to the point. For sure, this will be an enviro issue of growing concern in the years to come. To learn more about methane forcing, feedback, and out-gassing from the oceans, check out my earlier planetsave post:
Methane: The ‘Sleeper’ Agent of Climate Change
http://planetsave.com/2010/11/26/methane-the-sleeper-agent-of-climate-change/