It may start happening extremely quickly, or it may take centuries, depending on whom you ask – but enough pure methane is currently escaping into the atmosphere from thawing permafrost to make many scientists very worried about effects on climate.
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is currently building up in the atmosphere at rapidly increasing rates after bubbling up from underwater vents.
From The Columbia Daily Tribune:
Researchers say air temperatures here in northwest Canada, in Siberia and elsewhere in the Arctic have risen more than 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970 — much faster than the global average. The summer thaw is reaching deeper into frozen soil, at a rate of 1.5 inches a year, and a further 13-degree temperature rise is possible this century, said the authoritative, U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC.
In 2007, air monitors detected a rise in methane concentrations in the atmosphere, apparently from far northern sources. Russian researchers in Siberia expressed alarm, warning of a potential surge in the powerful greenhouse gas, additional warming of several degrees and unpredictable consequences for Earth’s climate.
Others say massive seeps of methane might take centuries. But the Russian scenario is disturbing enough to have led six U.S. national laboratories last year to launch a joint investigation of rapid methane release. And in July, IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri asked his scientific network to focus on “abrupt, irreversible climate change” from thawing permafrost.
As the world warms, surface permafrost at a depth of about 5 meters is at risk of thawing. That would release a hell of a lot of methane into the atmosphere, causing a serious acceleration in climate change.
Scientists may disagree right now on how fast permafrost can thaw, but one thing is clear: there’s a very good chance that failing to act could have extremely negative consequences. While it’s encouraging that there are many research teams currently studying this issue, policymakers around the world have got to make fighting it a priority.
Link [Columbia Tribune]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
