increasing Arctic Methane Emissions: will EPA add these to fossil fuel's GHGs emissions?

[Bill USA]

... really? [font size="4"]Do you think Exxon-Mobil will allow EPA to do that???[/font]


http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctic-methane-emissions-certain-to-trigger-warming-17374

As climate change melts Arctic permafrost and releases large amounts of methane into the atmosphere, it is creating a feedback loop that is "certain to trigger additional warming," according to the lead scientist of a new study investigating Arctic methane emissions.

The study released this week examined 71 wetlands across the globe and found that melting permafrost is creating wetlands known as fens, which are unexpectedly emitting large quantities of methane. Over a 100-year timeframe, methane is about 35 times as potent as a climate change-driving greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and over 20 years, it's 84 times more potent.

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But a spike in global methane concentrations in the atmosphere seen since 2007 can be partly traced back to the formation of fens in areas where permafrost once existed, according to the study, led by University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) biology professor Merritt Turetsky.

The methane emissions stemming from melting permafrost could be critical to determining how fast the climate will change in the future.
(more)

Scientist to Gather Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Melting Permafrost
http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/scientist-to-gather-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-melting-permafrost/

A NASA scientist who has developed a novel suitcase-size instrument to measure column carbon dioxide and methane is taking her recently patented instrument on the road this summer to comprehensively measure emissions of these important greenhouse gases from Alaska’s melting permafrost.

Emily Wilson, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will use her recently patented miniaturized laser heterodyne radiometer (mini-LHR) to carry out a multi-disciplinary field campaign at three sites — each representing a different type of permafrost — near Fairbanks, Alaska, in June. Her team has designed a unique and comprehensive experiment that records permafrost depth and structure, meteorological data, and concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide during the seasonal ground melt.

Multi-Disciplinary Approach

“With the global mean temperature rising, the release of these gases could create an amplified effect,” she said. “These data will allow us to estimate fluctuation of emissions from the melting permafrost.”

Permafrost is permanently frozen soil. Comprising 24 percent of the Northern Hemisphere, permafrost contains old organic carbon deposits — some relicts from the last glaciation — that are locked up beneath the surface. Scientists have observed that more of the permafrost’s upper layer, or the active layer, is melting each summer, creating concern that the thawing could lead to the significant greenhouse-gas emissions.
(more)

Permafrost in a Warming World: http://www.wunderground.com/resources/climate/melting_permafrost.asp

[Romeo.lima333]

1. i would be more worried about mr jiggery-pokery

the doddering old fool over-staying his welcome

[Nihil]

2. WTF?