Posted 03.05.2010 at 11:29 am
17 Comments
Siberian Sea
The sea surface above the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is full of ice and bubbles. Sonar is the only way to detect the vast clouds of methane bubbles rising from the seafloor.
courtesy of Igor Semiletov, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Large amounts of methane are leaking into the atmosphere from a section of seafloor under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, according to new study by an international research team. Methane is a greenhouse gas that lies frozen in sediments and permafrost -- frozen soil that remains below 0°C for several years -- in arctic continental shelves.
Permafrost was thought to act as a leak-proof barrier that sealed in the methane, but warming arctic temperatures are thawing the permafrost.
And the frozen methane is not only dissolving in the water -- it's escaping into the atmosphere. The researchers say that release of just a fraction of the methane stored in the shelf could trigger sudden climate warming.
The East Siberian Arctic Shelf covers more than 2 million square kilometers of seafloor in the Arctic Ocean. Even prior to the new study, the region was known to be a significant source of methane -- releasing 7 teragrams a year (a teragram equals about 1.1 million tons).
Previous studies in Siberia focused on methane escaping from thawing permafrost on land, but the new study went beyond the coast to offshore areas. From 2003 -- 2008, the research team embarked on annual research cruises to sample seawater at various depths; they found that more than 80% of the deep water and more than half the surface water had methane levels that were eight times greater than that of normal seawater.
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Science, atmosphere, climate change, gases, methaneMethane release is one of the critical climate "feedbacks" that affect the entire planet's climate system as the result of a warming Arctic region. The volume of methane currently venting from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is about the same as the amount coming out of the entire planet's oceans combined, according to researcher Natalia Shakhova, who co-led the study. "The climatic consequences of this are hard to predict," she said.
The team plans to continue its studies, including drilling into the ocean floor to estimate the amount of methane stored there. A paper on the study appears in the March 5 issue of the journal Science.
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The earth is trying to shed us off like a virus.
It [earth] wants us gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Better find a friend with a biosphere soon.
Lets just solve this. Someone got a match?
I would think if there is a serous amount of methane you would have an easy job of drilling it out and selling it commercially.
I wish that picture where rotated, it hurts my brain to look at.
THIS
"Lets just solve this. Someone got a match?"
AND THIS
"I would think if there is a serous amount of methane you would have an easy job of drilling it out and selling it commercially."
+9000
Yes on the gathering but seriously - we all die because the earth passed a big one? I mean...that's just ironic. I wonder if it will smell bad too.
Bring it on. Mankind has survived worse, but not w/o pain.
It will only make us stronger in the long run.
It will make our wifes less vulnerable to dutch ovens and ninja turtle shell attacks :( How about we catch the bubbles and use them for that new bloom box. Then plant a bunch of trees around the bloom boxes. They love CO2 right???? Which is worse death by methane or death by CO 2?
By even conservative estimates there is at least 2x as much gas hydrate trapped in the permafrost and ocean floors as all the coal, oil, and natural gas combined. Methane is significantly more effective at trapping heat than CO2 so to not study this is unwise. However, the article does not acknowledge the fact that the researchers could not determine if this leak was new or whetether it has always been there. It could also be that this leak is not accelerating at all. Conversly, it could be accelerating exponentially which really could make even the most dire global warming predicitons look like childs play.
"THIS
"Lets just solve this. Someone got a match?"
AND THIS
"I would think if there is a serous amount of methane you would have an easy job of drilling it out and selling it commercially."
+9000"
It's over 9000!
On a serious note:
"they found that more than 80% of the deep water and more than half the surface water had methane levels that were eight times greater than that of normal seawater."
What is "normal seawater" defined as? Are they saying the the sea water everywhere else is the same?
Hey look at the bright side, if we ever figure out a way to get to another planet and live, we could always come back to get some methane
Anyone else see that 'Snowball Earth' documentary?
This is supposedly the first step in that scenario.
Just for some perspective on this, the US annually consumes about 420 teragrams of methane (aka, natural gas) each year. I didn't check, but we are likely the largest consumer (and perhaps producer as well) in the world. If a rough gauge of greenhouse gas production is good for a back of the envelope estimate, then our 25% contribution would mean we're probably in the 25% range of consumption.
All of this means that annual global consumption of this gas is likely in the 1200 teragram range. 7 teragrams is a lot of money bubbling into the atmosphere, but it makes up less than 1 percent of the annual methane consumption. I give this story an 8 on the hype to bang meter.
Damn we really need to find a new planet to sustain life fast.... because i bet thoes germans are trying to nuke this spot wich may cause the earth to implode. :()