Russian Scientist Discovers Giant Arctic Methane Plumes

thomst writes "Russian scientist Igor Semiletov of the International Arctic Research Centre at the University of Alaska Fairbanks revealed in an interview with The Independent that his team discovered 'powerful and impressive seeping structures (of Methane gas) more than 1,000 metres in diameter' during their survey of the Arctic Ocean earlier this year. 'I was most impressed by the sheer scale and the high density of the plumes. Over a relatively small area we found more than 100, but over a wider area there should be thousands of them,' Semiletov told The Independent's Steve Connor. This finding is important because methane is estimated to be 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, and it could indicate that global warming is about to accelerate dramatically."

Comments

Re:Methane emissions not tied to modern warming

[angel'o'sphere]

Perhaps you should first get a clue where methane comes from ...
Why do you think the end of the last ice age should have released methane? To release methane there must be methane in the ground, don't you think so? If there is nothing, nothing is released, obviously.

Re:Methane emissions not tied to modern warming

[tp1024]

You mean like the swamps and moors that Europe was covered with until a few hundred years ago? There was a lot of work involved in draining and removing them in order to create fertile land.

Also, is your argument really so weak that you have to resort to such stupid subterfuges as comparing the extent of permafrost today with the extent of glaciers during the ice-age in order to come up with some comparison that you thought you could bend to your purpose?

And you're telling me to get a clue? You guys make me sick.