Cool off Eastern Siberia. Drop a plane load of ice cubes on it.
On Dec 20, 8:57�am, Doc Holliday <[email protected]> wrote: > Taken from another Google group: > > http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/12/081219-methane-siberi... > > December 19, 2008 > > Methane Bubbling Up From Undersea Permafrost? > > Mason Inman in San Francisco, California > for National Geographic News > > The East Siberian Sea is bubbling with methane, a powerful greenhouse > gas, being released from underwater reserves, according to a recent > expedition by a Russian team. > > This could be a sign that global warming is thawing underwater > permafrost, which is releasing methane that has been locked away for > many thousands of years. > > If these methane emissions from the Arctic speed up, it could cause > "really serious climate consequences," said study leader Igor > Semiletov of the Pacific Oceanological Institute in Vladivostok, > Russia. > > Semiletov and colleagues have traveled along the Siberian coast this > year they covered 13,000 miles (22,000 kilometers) while monitoring > methane concentrations in the air and observing the seas. > > "According to our data, more than 50 percent of the Arctic Siberian > shelf is serving as a source of methane to the atmosphere," Semiletov > said. > > This vast shelf is about 750,000 square miles (2 million square > kilometers) about the same size as Greenland or Mexico and about 80 > percent of it is covered with permafrost, Semiletov said. > > He presented the findings from his group at an American Geophysical > Union meeting in San Francisco this week. > > � � � � � � � � Not-So-Permanent Permafrost > > Permafrost is basically dirt that's been permanently frozen for > hundreds or thousands of years, much of it since the last ice age. > > Sea levels back then near the Siberian coast were about 325 feet (100 > meters) lower than today, and the exposed ground froze solid down to > 1,600 to 2,300 feet (500 to 700 meters) deep. > > Over the past 10,000 years, sea levels rose to cover some of this > permafrost, and in recent years those seas have seen increases in > average temperatures. > > "As a result, sub-sea permafrost has warmed up to minus 1 degree > Celsius [30 degrees Fahrenheit]," Semiletov said. > > "It's very, very close to the thawing point." > > Underneath the permafrost are stores of methane, the same as the > natural gas people use for cooking and heating. > > There are also methane hydrates, a solid that forms when methane and > water mix in cold temperatures. > > The hydrates release gas as they warm. > > "It was assumed that these stores of methane have not been leaking, > because the sub-sea permafrost served as a lid keeping hydrates and > natural gas in place," Semiletov said. > > But now global warming may be starting to release these stores of > methane into the atmosphere. > > � � � � � � � � � � � � Drastic Increase > > Regions farther from the Equator generally are experiencing more > warming, and the Arctic is warming fastest of all. > > "Springtime air temperatures on the East Siberian Arctic shelf [have] > increased up to 5 degrees Celsius [9 degrees Fahrenheit]," Semiletov > said. > > "It's a hot spot." > > In comparison, the world as a whole has warmed about 1.25 degrees > Fahrenheit (0.7 degrees Celsius) since pre-industrial times. > > If abrupt methane release became widespread, it could create a > feedback loop that would lead to even more drastic global warming. > > "Our early observations in 1994 to 1999 didn't reveal a widespread > enhanced dissolved methane concentration" along the Siberian coast, > Semiletov said. > > "With this newly obtained data, we suggest an increase of methane > release from the East Siberian Arctic shelf," he said. > > "We have obtained a drastic increase of air methane in some > sites sometimes up to four times higher than the background [global > average]." > > Vladimir Romanovsky, a permafrost expert at the University of Alaska, > Fairbanks, says the study is worrying. > > "It has very serious implications for changes in greenhouse gases," > Romanovsky said, and the releases described should be monitored more > closely. >end > > Peace, > Doc --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
