Another source of atmospheric methane found in Arctic
MAY 21, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026051
New York Times : Last year scientists discovered that global warming is melting Arctic permafrost and allowing methane to be released into the atmosphere. Methane is itself a potent greenhouse gas. Now those researchers have found yet another source of methane leakage: geologic reservoirs of the gas trapped for thousands or even millions of years. As Earth’s atmosphere warms, caps of Arctic ice over the reservoirs are melting and allowing the gas to escape. Although the source is not new but rather newly discovered and the reservoirs are not a huge source of methane, Katey Walter Anthony, lead author on a paper published in Nature Geoscience, says the discovery raises concerns nonetheless. The big question is “exactly how big this flux of geological methane will become in a warming climate,” writes Justin Gillis for the New York Times.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
