Tropic Light wrote:
There are huge deposits of methane trapped in what was previously described as "permafrost".  As it melts, the organic material trapped there decomposes and the gas is released into the atmosphere.  There are also huge concentrations of methane trapped below the sea floor of the Arctic Ocean.  As temperatures rise, methane bubbles up and is 20 times more potent in the atmosphere than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.  If enough methane is released, then we're talking about a runaway greenhouse effect that is irreversible.  Earth will become like Venus.  We're talking global extinction.

yay!!!!!!!!!!!

Tropic Light wrote:
There are huge deposits of methane trapped in what was previously described as "permafrost".  As it melts, the organic material trapped there decomposes and the gas is released into the atmosphere.  There are also huge concentrations of methane trapped below the sea floor of the Arctic Ocean.  As temperatures rise, methane bubbles up and is 20 times more potent in the atmosphere than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.  If enough methane is released, then we're talking about a runaway greenhouse effect that is irreversible.  Earth will become like Venus.  We're talking global extinction.

It never happened before even when the earth was MUCH warmer than it is today so why would you think it could possibly happen now?

AdelaideJohn1967 wrote:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environ … 00u53.html

Wow so a lot of gas created that? Methane build up. Not good if I read that article right.

Wonder if more of these holes will pop up.

It's a theory. They don't know. Globally atmospheric methane has risen only slightly over the last 15 years.

Instinct Images wrote:
It's a theory. They don't know. Globally atmospheric methane has risen only slightly over the last 15 years.

A hypothesis?

Instinct Images wrote:

It never happened before even when the earth was MUCH warmer than it is today so why would you think it could possibly happen now?

Somebody fear monger much

But that's none of my buisness

NothingIsRealButTheGirl wrote:

A hypothesis?

If you want to be pedantic then hypothesis is more accurate.

Instinct Images wrote:

It never happened before even when the earth was MUCH warmer than it is today so why would you think it could possibly happen now?

What's going on in the Siberian peninsula, and a lot of other climate data should be serving as a wake up call to humanity.  NASA is continuing to monitor the situation in the Arctic Ocean, and increased detection of methane has been found in areas where the sea ice is breaking up.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/featur … 20422.html

Instead of waking up, we continue to increase the rate of CO2 going into the atmosphere.  Researchers have determined that we are already living in the sixth mass extinction cycle.  The worst case scenario is human extinction.  The bottom line is that nobody knows how bad it's going to get.  I don't know, and you certainly don't.  The "business as usual" approach is how governments and corporate interests are dealing with climate change.

Tropic Light wrote:

What's going on in the Siberian peninsula, and a lot of other climate data should be serving as a wake up call to humanity.  NASA is continuing to monitor the situation in the Arctic Ocean, and increased detection of methane has been found in areas where the sea ice is breaking up.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/featur … 20422.html

Instead of waking up, we continue to increase the rate of CO2 going into the atmosphere.  Researchers have determined that we are already living in the sixth mass extinction cycle.  The worst case scenario is human extinction.  The bottom line is that nobody knows how bad it's going to get.  I don't know, and you certainly don't.  The "business as usual" approach is how governments and corporate interests are dealing with climate change.

The "business as usual" approach is exactly how PEOPLE are dealing with the threat of climate change.

What's going on in Siberia hasn't been determined. As shown in the link I posted above these "holes" look just like pingos found in Canada and aren't related to climate change. There's physical evidence - tree stumps - in the Yamal region that indicate the climate there was significantly warmer in the very recent past since the stumps are found at higher elevation than the current tree line. Of course that can of evidence is conveniently ignored by some.

The chart I posted above clearly shows that atmospheric methane has increased just slightly over the last 15 years.

Instinct Images wrote:

The "business as usual" approach is exactly how PEOPLE are dealing with the threat of climate change.

What's going on in Siberia hasn't been determined. As shown in the link I posted above these "holes" look just like pingos found in Canada and aren't related to climate change. There's physical evidence - tree stumps - in the Yamal region that indicate the climate there was significantly warmer in the very recent past since the stumps are found at higher elevation than the current tree line. Of course that can of evidence is conveniently ignored by some.

The chart I posted above clearly shows that atmospheric methane has increased just slightly over the last 15 years.

While a definitive study has not yet been done, the preliminary results (from the OP's article) are:

“air near the bottom of the crater contained unusually high concentrations of methane - up to 9.6 per cent - in tests conducted at the site on 16 July, says Andrei Plekhanov, an archaeologist at the Scientific Centre of Arctic Studies in Salekhard, Russia. Plekhanov, who led an expedition to the crater, says that air normally contains just 0.000179 per cent methane.”

There is zero evidence for them being pingos.  The NOAA graph that you posted is showing a steady increase in methane over the course of the data when normalized.  If we've reached the point where permafrost has started belching out quantities of methane in a positive reinforcement loop because the CO2, then it's time to start paying attention and acting responsibly.  Permafrost ordinarily has a thaw/freeze cycle on the top layer, and if the deeper layers are releasing sufficient amounts of methane to bubble up and burst through solid ground, then we ignore that phenomenon at our own peril.

Tropic Light wrote:

What's going on in the Siberian peninsula, and a lot of other climate data should be serving as a wake up call to humanity.  NASA is continuing to monitor the situation in the Arctic Ocean, and increased detection of methane has been found in areas where the sea ice is breaking up.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/featur … 20422.html

Instead of waking up, we continue to increase the rate of CO2 going into the atmosphere.  Researchers have determined that we are already living in the sixth mass extinction cycle.  The worst case scenario is human extinction.  The bottom line is that nobody knows how bad it's going to get.  I don't know, and you certainly don't.  The "business as usual" approach is how governments and corporate interests are dealing with climate change.

Soapbox is closed so quit the fear mongering

Chris Rifkin wrote:

Soapbox is closed so quit the fear mongering

Theres nothing soapboxy about that response

Solas wrote:
They have concerns about this in the arctic and good reason for it with the melting of the permafrost ..the gas released thats stored in that ice..well..going to make things pretty scary when it does get released

So they're concerned that the arctic will turn into a lush (relatively) warm place again like it was thousands of years ago when mammoths roamed the tundra?