Arctic methane bomb is more dangerous than was supposed

A new study by Russian scientists showed that methane release from the Siberian shelf is fraught with much larger consequences for the Earth’s climate than previously thought. Photo from open sources Arctic methane bomb slow motion “poses a greater threat to the Earth than scientists have previously suggested. This is stated in a new study, whose results were published on November 24 in the journal Nature Geoscience. Photos from open sources

About 17 teragrams of methane, a powerful greenhouse, are annually gas, enters the atmosphere from the largest continental shelf the planet – the shelf of Siberia (teragram is 1.1 million tons). it huge volume in comparison with that which goes into the atmosphere from man-made and natural sources (about 500 million tons of methane in year). As noted by Natalia Shakova, lead author of the study, biogeochemist from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, new data exceed data from previous study completed in 2010 more than twice a year. “We believe that the evaporation of methane from The Arctic, in particular, from the Arctic shelf of Siberia, may have impact on the entire globe, and not just on one arctic region, “explains Natalya Shakova.

A photo from open sources

Under the scrutiny of scientists were eternal permafrost in the Arctic due to their real threat to the Earth’s climate. Zone permafrost stores huge reserves of methane, since ice delays this gas coming from inside the planet as well produced by microbes living in the soil. Scientists fear that with climate warming in the Arctic will begin active melting of ice, which will release all the methane stored in them. it start a chain reaction and provoke even greater warming and further melting of glaciers, as methane holds in the atmosphere heat. Scientists are currently trying to assess this risk, exactly measuring methane reserves in the eternal ice of the Arctic on land and in the ocean. Although methane decomposes relatively quickly, getting into the atmosphere (it remains in the atmosphere for no more than ten years), scientists emphasize that this gas is 30 times more effective than carbon dioxide, it retains heat, contributing to the development of the notorious greenhouse effect.

A photo from open sources

Natalia Shakova with her colleague Igor Semiletov from Russian Academy of Sciences first discovered methane going to surface from the bottom of the Laptev Sea ten years ago. Methane turned frozen there during the last ice ages when the level the sea was much lower. In his last study, Shakov and her colleagues have recorded thousands of cases of bubble observation methane coming to the surface in the summer and winter of 2003-2012. A team of scientists also periodically measured the temperature of sea water and drilled the bottom of the ocean to determine if methane deposits remain still frozen. One of the reasons that so many methane evaporates from the Siberian shelf, according to Shakova, is shallow water. At greater depths, methane is absorbed by certain germs that digest gas before it reaches surface and will enter the atmosphere. However, in places like the sea Laptev, methane bubbles need a few seconds to leave your water trap. Arctic storms also accelerate the process of methane release from ocean water.

A photo from open sources

Temperature measurements in the study showed that water in the bottom layers of the ocean in separate places heats up by more than 7 degrees Celsius over the summer. After a series of studies with drilling of the day, scientists also found that some surface benthic deposits are already thawed (for example, in one of the drilling sites near the Lena River Delta). “We have proven that the current state of permafrost is incomparably closer to the melting point than the earth permafrost, “said Natalya Shakova. In her opinion, this will lead to much faster methane release than previously thought. IN Peter Wadhams, head of the research team, involved in the physics of the Arctic Ocean at Cambridge University, notes that melting ice in the permafrost zone started only recently. “In the event of a methane explosion, it will become real disaster, “emphasizes Wadhams. Earlier this year, Wadhams and his UK counterparts estimated that methane release from the Siberian shelf can increase the temperature on the planet by about 0.6 degrees Celsius.

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