# Death by Farts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 31, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920 "2011-12-31T05:14:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/1 "2011-12-31T05:14:23Z")
Robert Frost asked if the world would end by fire or ice. I _think_ he also wrote a poem that said: Not with a bang, but a whimper. Well, it turns out it may be with a whimper. In Siberia, global warming is melting the permafrost, and the ground is emitting methane gas. The same stuff scientists were pointing their fingers at cows for a few years ago. The areas that have been dug up are shooting fire up into the sky. Apparently, if this gas gets circulated around the globe it’s going to decimate agriculture and we’re all going to die. Death by Farts. Seems kind of apropos, huh. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/2 "2011-12-31T05:54:13Z")
Since I don’t see a question in the OP, let’s move this to MPSIMS. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/3 "2011-12-31T06:41:02Z")
Job 41 31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. Revelation 11:18 The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great— and for destroying those who destroy the earth. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/4 "2011-12-31T06:41:58Z")
I don’t see a cite, either. Got one? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/5 "2011-12-31T07:20:58Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t see a cite, either. Got one? NBC Nightly News —\> [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#45829669](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#45829669) Also —\> [http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/as-siberian-permafrost-melts-methane-seeps-out/6jz3rer?cpkey=16772407-d35c-4214-a1a9-a2e0d55c6d83||||](http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/as-siberian-permafrost-melts-methane-seeps-out/6jz3rer?cpkey=16772407-d35c-4214-a1a9-a2e0d55c6d83%7C%7C%7C%7C) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/6 "2011-12-31T11:24:42Z")
It’s not like the human race deserves to live, all things considered. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/7 "2011-12-31T12:33:37Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > I _think_ he also wrote a poem that said: Not with a bang, but a whimper. No, that was [The Hollow Men by TS Eliot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hollow_Men). ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/8 "2011-12-31T12:43:38Z")
The solution proposed seems absurd, but it apparently worked in the limited experiment. Salvation from trampling herd animals. Shheeeesh. ---
**Author:** ![UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/46a35a/32.png) [@UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UFC_Is_Sux)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/9 "2011-12-31T12:52:12Z")
“The roar of the masses could be farts.” Other than that, I got nuthin. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/10 "2011-12-31T13:43:41Z")
Thanks for the link **Duckster,** and thanks for the correct author **Shakester.** I wasn’t sure of the source. From the news story, the situation seems to be dire enough to have drawn the attention of several scientists. When I saw this on the news I wondered how global warming can be questioned and how/why it seems to have become a political issue. And since methane gas stinks, it just seems ironic to me that the world seems to be trying to gas itself to death. Nothing dramatic or awe-inspiring—but smothering itself with “farts.” ---
**Author:** ![Theophane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@Theophane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theophane)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/11 "2011-12-31T13:49:38Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t see a cite, either. Got one? I think the Revelation quote was Mr. Duality’s cite. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/12 "2011-12-31T14:00:28Z")
Actually, methane is colorless and odorless. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/13 "2011-12-31T14:05:56Z")
I told Ivan not to pull Siberia’s finger. Damn vodka soaked Russians. ---
**Author:** ![Theophane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@Theophane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theophane)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/14 "2011-12-31T14:09:13Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > Actually, methane is colorless and odorless. Then why does it stink so bad? ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/15 "2011-12-31T14:30:16Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > Then why does it stink so bad? Human farts smell due to a variety of sulfur compounds. (In fact, according to the Wikipedia article, human farts contain only a very small percentage of methane.) Natural gas has butyl mercaptan added to it so people can detect the presence of gas by the smell. ---
**Author:** ![Theophane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@Theophane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theophane)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/16 "2011-12-31T14:37:18Z")
He who smelt it, dealt it. He who denied it, supplied it. He who deduced it, produced it. He who attributed it, distributed it. He who detected it, projected it. He who perceived it, conceived it. He who expressed it, compressed it. He who related it, deflated it. He who protested it, foam-crested it. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/17 "2011-12-31T14:39:21Z")
From the thread title, I though you’d been to my house. I’m surrounded by a bunch of boys — and I am of course including my husband in that. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/18 "2011-12-31T23:54:09Z")
Man **Ellen Cherry,** I do know what you mean. So if natural methane is odorless etc. how did that guy in Siberia track it down/understand what it is? I mean, who digs a hole and then lights a match to see if something will ignite. Or is a “man” thing, like what Ellen Cherry is talking about? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/19 "2012-01-01T17:09:03Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > Job 41 > 31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. > > Revelation 11:18 > The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. > The time has come for judging the dead, > and for rewarding your servants the prophets > and your saints and those who reverence your name, > both small and great— > and for destroying those who destroy the earth. Actually, I was thinking of the huge methane plumes in the Arctic Ocean. [http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/316125](http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/316125) Large amounts of methane bubbling to the surface would indeed create the appearance of boiling from the deep. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920/20 "2012-01-02T04:48:40Z")
Recent related [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=635013). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-farts/607920.md?page=2)