Thursday, August 01, 2013

Arctic Methane Catastrophe Scenario Is Based on New Empirical Observations

Bubbles of methane emerge from sediments below a frozen Alaskan lake.  Credit:  Josh Haner/The New York Times/Redux/Eyevine Critics of new Nature paper on costs of Arctic warming ignore latest science on permafrost methane.

"So long as some ice persisted on the shelf, the water mass was held to about 0C in summer because any further heat content in the water column was used for melting the ice underside.  But once the ice disappears, as it has done, the temperature of the water can rise significantly, and the heat content reaching the seabed can melt the frozen sediments at a rate that was never before possible.  The authors who so confidently dismiss the idea of extensive methane release are simply not aware of the new mechanism that is causing it."

Arctic Methane Catastrophe Scenario Is Based on New Empirical Observations

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