I was just lstening to NPR, talking about the spectacular release of methane gas, from unfrozen lakes and ponds on the tundras. From what I understand, methine is generated by the decay of submerged vegetation, which these arctic lakes are fulll of. Now that the arctic is warming up, the phenomenon of lake “turnover” (the rise of deep cold water from the bottoms, is causinh methan gas to literally make these lakes boil. Methane is 21 times a heat trapping (as CO2). So have we unleished and evil genie? Will the Arctic methane cause a runaway greenhouse effect?
Or this this overblown-as winter freezes the ice, the methane generation slows doen to nothing.
I s this something to worry about? :o
Unless these lakes are getting a lot hotter than I think, they aren’t literally boiling. As for the rest, I’m sure the extra methane will be a factor in global warming, but I have no idea how much of an impact it will have. I can corroborate the fact that methane is more of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Yes. You should worry about everything.
My husband showed me a paper published a few years ago that theorized anthropogenic global warming actually started about 8,000 years ago, when rice growing in China (and forest clearing in Europe) started happening on a large scale. Rice agriculture is a significant source of methane. The author also examined fluctuating methane levels. Here’s an excerpt,, the paper itself was in the journal Climate Change IIRC.
This is part of a theory promoted by paleoclimatologist William Ruddimen . The main jist of the theory is that 8000 yrs ago is when the temperature of the earth began diverting from the Milankovich Cycles . From the links, it sounds as if the main argument against this is that other theories account for this. What can’t be disputed, is that the most dramatic global warming has occured in the last 150 years .
In my opinion, I find it hard to beleive that the sporadic agriculture of 8000 years ago would have a significant effect. Not being an archeologist/anthropologist I am totally unqualified to weigh the evidence properly. Take my wiki research with all the salt it needs.
At last, an apocalypse that I can get behind.
This is the way the world ends - not with a bang, but a fart.
Actually, not just farts. Burps are important, too.
Cow burps, that is.
(And sheep burps, but not quite so much.)
The Arctic methan has been sequestered, and is now being released. I just wonder how it compares (in volume) with the methan released by all those ruminant animals (cows, sheep, etc.), and also the effect of the world’s termites. i’ve heard that termites account for a huge production of CH4; possibly more than domestic animals.