Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases deadly greenhouse gas

[robertpaulsen]

Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases deadly greenhouse gas

Russian research team astonished after finding 'fountains' of methane bubbling to surface
Steve Connor

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region.

The scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the head of the Russian research team who has been surveying the seabed of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Igor Semiletov, of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that he has never before witnessed the scale and force of the methane being released from beneath the Arctic seabed.

"Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of metres in diameter. This is the first time that we've found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures, more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing," Dr Semiletov said. "I was most impressed by the sheer scale and 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."

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/shock-as-retreat-of-arctic-sea-ice-releases-deadly-greenhouse-gas-6276134.html

Three words come to mind: Holy. Fucking. Shit!

[joshcryer]

1. Feedbacks.

They exist.

[kenfrequed]

15. "Who's a climate scientist?"

Seriously, the methyl hydrates on the ocean floor and the methan trapped in permafrost are posing an increased and significant risk.

What is the penalty for those who have lied to us? What is the penalty for PR groups in stupid servitude to the most powerful and wealthiest corporations in the world?

[Doremus]

19. That's the kicker.

There's never a penalty for the enablers. Fall guys, peons and patsies, yes. But full scale, 'if it wasn't for their help it wouldn't have been possible to pull off' adjutants, no. They're savvy enough to take a powder before the shit hits the fan, but mostly there are just plain too many of them to logistically make a dent.

I've often wondered about the huge number of people willing to do harmful things for selfish reasons. It's a fatal flaw in our nature and will once again prove our demise.

[leftyohiolib]

31. their penalty will be to die like the rest of us

[tex-wyo-dem]

35. This is the legacy of unrestrained greed and pursuit of power....

a planet suffering and rapidly deteriorating...the destruction of everything that sustains life.

[XemaSab]

46. .

[neverforget]

2. Drill, baby, drill to the biosphere's demise.

I fear for our future.

[ellisonz]

3. +1000

[Chemisse]

4. I guess we all knew that the melting

of the Arctic ice was going to bring unpleasant surprises. But this one is a doozy.

I worry for my little grandchildren's futures.

[Boston_Chemist]

5. This process will accelerate global warming.

Reflective snowpack + increased heat retention = less reflective snowpack + more methane release.

Cycle till Northern Quebec starts to resemble Louisiana.

[DCBob]

6. this is really getting scary yet world leaders dont give a shit.

The inevitable crises resulting from GW could hit much sooner than many thought.

[BeHereNow]

20. Don't worry about GW and the BFEE- they bought land in Paraguay- they will be fine.

TPTB have known about the shit hitting the fan for at least two or three decades.
They have effectively stolen all of our futures to prepare for their own.
To hell with our kids and grandchildren.
That's the bottom line with the elite.

BHN

[Samba]

7. underwater permafrost melt?

The permafrost on land is doing similar stuff and theres a whole lot of it.

Then theres the Methane Clathrates - slushy frozen methane/water deposits that can release huge amounts of methane from the seafloor.

[Odin2005]

8. We are totally fucked.

[truthisfreedom]

9. It would be better for the environment to burn it. If it's 20 times more greenhouse-y, and each

methane molecule would produce only one carbon dioxide molecule, that would reduce its impact on the planet to 5%. Actually, we should build floating power plants that trap it, burn it, and use the power generated to sequester it back into the ocean somehow.

[babydollhead]

10. good thinking!

[Delphinus]

11. Interesting.

Would that really work?

[GliderGuider]

13. The problem is that it's coming out over thousands of square miles.

We can't put a plastic bag over the entire arctic.

This is probably the tipping point for global warming, the one that makes a rise of 6 degrees Celsius inevitable.

[Locrian]

12. interesting

I often wonder if the powers that be already get that we are screwed and are simply grabbing everything they can for when it really hits the fan......

[BeHereNow]

21. You are beginning to comprehend the reality.

Of COURSE they know and yes, they are grabbing all that they can
for their own- to hell with the rest of us.
That IS their thinking and agenda.
BHN

[Uncle Joe]

23. Yes, they believe they're first class passengers on the Titanic.

However I believe most if not all of their life boats have large holes in them and they will be joining the rest of us on the frosty bottom.

UJ

[BeHereNow]

25. Right on!

They can grab everything and yet they can not
control the methane...
They will perish with the rest of us.
It may take a while longer, but their demise is inevitable.
As is our own, thanks to their rapacious GREED.
BHN

[tex-wyo-dem]

37. However....

[Delphinus]

42. Boy,

does that sign say it all.

[Ghost Dog]

40. Here too. They'll be imagining living in high-tech domes with controlled environments

only for the first-class few and some servants and slaves and otherwise, robots. Oh, and a warror-class of course so that domes can play war games with each other to avoid boredom.

[cstanleytech]

14. I am not questioning global warming nor am I saying that we havent made it

worse because imo we have helped do so but I am wondering if this is really an unprecedented event because I assume its happened before as the earths climate changes over time from warm to cool and back to warm.

[kenfrequed]

16. Possibly

Though climate shifts of this magnitude usually spell extinction for massive numbers of species. It is currently thought that there is a big more gradiation in change of climate. Of course there is always the remote possibility of a permian level extinction as there are theories that excessive CO2 could eventaully lead to it.

Very large releases of Methane and other gasses via volcanism or massive die off could have raised the temperature of the earth such that the water would hold less dissolved gas which would have fed-back by killing more aquatic life forms, thereby releasing more methane during decomposition. There are of course other theories but several of them have some sort of methane/CO2 release as part of the puzzle and the fossil evidence supports this.

[bemildred]

18. It has happened before on several occasions, or so I have read.

My fave is the Permian-Triassic extinction event.

[DCBob]

22. Of course its happened before in ancient history that doesnt mean we should ignore it.

An abrupt climate change will be catastropic to life on earth not to mention our economy and society.

[cstanleytech]

32. I didnt say we should ignore it so I am not sure why you would imply that I did

but anyway you are right, an abrupt change to the climate could very well prove disastrous for us all.

[DCBob]

33. sorry, just a knee jerk reaction. I keep hearing this argument from the deniers..

I assume you arent one.

[cstanleytech]

34. Accepted, though this could have been avoided if you had really read my post.

[tabasco]

38. Of course you're not questioning global warming!

That would mean you're not a true blue liberal! Wouldn't want anyone to think that!

Of course, you do a great job of inserting talking points.

Why not do some reading, instead?

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html

[cstanleytech]

39. Im not questioning it because I already believe its happening and that we (humans) are

causing it to proceed at an accelerating rate than it naturally would and I was simply asking if this type of methane release is unprecedented as I am not a geologist nor am I an oceanographer and I do not know if there have been any recorded cases of any other large methane releases in the recent past.

[robertpaulsen]

41. I think the "unprecedented" part of this story implies during human history, not planetary history.

It has happened in the past history of the planet, and each time resulted in massive epochal change. Here's one example:

Ancient "Snowball Earth" Melted Fast Due to Methane
John Roach
for National Geographic News
May 28, 2008

A massive release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, may have triggered rapid melting of the last "snowball Earth" about 635 million years ago, a new study suggests.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080528-snowball-earth.html

[magical thyme]

43. not unprecedented. and if it blows in one major explosion

we'll all go the way of the dinasaurs. tptb will be dead right along with the rest of us.

[bemildred]

17. Gee, who could have predicted this?

Ready to have less oxygen in your air?

[Octafish]

24. Paraguay.

Plenty of clean water for those who can afford it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3183814

Thank you for the heads-up, robertpaulsen. It might be in the garage, but I've got a USMC survival manual somewhere we can share...

[BeHereNow]

26. Remember when the news broke about Kinda-Sleezy brokering the military base there?

SO many Duers were so certain that the connections between the BFEE land grab in Paraguay,
Jenna's "humanitarian" meetings there, et al...
were "CT?"

Heh.
BHN

[Octafish]

28. It's no fun being right about this stuff.

Now they've found two Mayan calendars...

[BeHereNow]

29. LOL! TWO Mayan calendars... we ARE DOOMED...but not for the reasons given

by the calendars.
As you well know.
Thanks Octafish for all you reveal.
So important- even if only a few are paying attention.
BHN

[IDemo]

27. Carl Sagan, in "Cosmos" (three decades ago):

A few million years ago, when human beings first evolved on Earth, it was already a middle-aged world, 4.6 billion years along from the catastrophes and impetuosities of its youth. But we humans now represent a new and perhaps decisive factor. Our intelligence and our technology have given us the power to affect the climate. How will we use this power? Are we willing to tolerate ignorance and complacency in matters that affect the entire human family? Do we value short-term advantages above the welfare of the Earth? Or will we think on longer time scales with concern for our children and our grandchildren, to understand and protect the complex life-support systems of our planet? The Earth is a tiny and fragile world. It needs to be cherished.

[BeHereNow]

30. What is this "cherish" crap?

There are PROFITS to made!
By the very few at the cost of the many.
Good night, and good luck.
BHN

[and-justice-for-all]

36. That shit aint real, its a bloody conspriacy I's tells yas

[AmandaMae]

44. Scary. Things are far worse than anyone imagined; how anyone can still be in denial

when climate change is happening in front of our eyes is mind boggling. Someday the leaders sitting back and doing nothing will have to answer for making that choice.

[WCGreen]

45. All they had to do was watch the Science Channel to know this was going to happen....