Obscenity is a strange way to make a scientific point. I have never seen it before. But I think I know why the guy below used it. He is desperate. He must be aware of the latest findings in his own field and the latest finding is that current changes in the Arctic, particularly in thermokarsts, have a net COOLING effect. See "A shift of thermokarst lakes from carbon sources to sinks during the Holocene epoch". That study concerns CO2 but the Warmist below makes no attempt to offset that finding against the methane observations that are giving him orgasms. That the methane emissions ARE being offset in some way would seem to follow from the fact that there has been no global warming for 18 years. And note that in the original methane study, most of the "vast plumes" did not reach the surface so could not therefore affect the atmosphere
The planet is 'f**cked' after scientists found huge plumes of deadly methane escaping from the seafloor. This is according to Dr Jason Box who claims that methane will be the main driver of climate change if it escapes into the atmosphere.
He said: 'If even a small fraction of Arctic sea floor carbon is released to the atmosphere, we're f'd'
The scientist, based at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, tweeted the provocative statement after a Swedish study found methane leaking beneath the Arctic.
Some of this methane – which is over 20 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat - is now making it to the ocean's surface.
The leaking gas from the seafloor may have its origins in collapsing clusters of methane trapped in frozen water due to high pressure and low temperature.
Scientists at Stockholm University called the discovery 'somewhat of a surprise,' which, according to Dr Box, is an understatement.
Methane is the second-largest greenhouse gas contributor to climate change. The gas is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat and is currently being targeted by government in an attempt to mitigate global warming.
Methane pollution has declined by 11 per cent since 1990 even as the governments has pushed for greater use of natural gas.
But the longer view on methane pollution show that it will rise. The Obama administration points to studies that show that methane pollution is projected to increase to a level equivalent to over 620 million tonnes of carbon dioxide pollution in 2030, if no action is taken.
The conventional thought is that the bubbles would be dissolved before they reached the surface and that microorganisms would consume that methane.
But Dr Box said if the plumes are making it to the surface, there's a new source of heat-trapping gases that the planet needs to worry about.
This, he claims, is particularly disturbing because the Arctic is warming faster than nearly anywhere else on Earth.
His comments follow research in May which found that freshwater sources may be an unrealised source of methane.
Unlike carbon dioxide, which is highly soluble in water, methane exists in two forms in these freshwater sources: as a dissolved gas and encapsulated in bubbles that rise from sediments.
And this methane can lead to ozone production and levels of the gas in the atmosphere are 150 per cent higher than they were before the industrial revolution in U.S.
It is already known that in the melting regions of the Arctic where lakes, known as thermokarsts, which are lakes that break down plant material into methane.
This methane can then escape out of the lake, and once lit, could set ice on fire.
'I may escape a lot of this,' Dr Box told Motherboard, 'but my daughter might not. She's three years old.'
SOURCE
Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).
No comments:
Post a Comment