Arctic methane release likely to worsen due to climate change

New Scientist : Although the long-term release of methane from permafrost regions of the Arctic is a natural process, global warming could cause billions of tons of the greenhouse gas to suddenly erupt. Plumes of methane as much as a kilometer wide have already been observed bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean. In an article published in Nature, researchers point out that some 50 billion tons of methane could be released within the next decade. Such an event could trigger a climate catastrophe by increasing the atmosphere’s methane content 12-fold and raising global temperatures by 1.3 °C. The economic consequences of a release of that magnitude will diminish any possible benefits from the ice melt, including the possibility of mineral mining on the sea floor, better fishing, or extended shipping lanes.