IAP Political Forum

Exclusive: The methane time bomb

Arctic scientists discover new global warming threat as melting permafrost releases millions of tons of a gas 20 times more damaging than carbon dioxide

The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.

The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.
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The amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is calculated to be greater than the total amount of carbon locked up in global coal reserves so there is intense interest in the stability of these deposits as the region warms at a faster rate than other places on earth.
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The Arctic region as a whole has seen a 4C rise in average temperatures over recent decades and a dramatic decline in the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by summer sea ice. Many scientists fear that the loss of sea ice could accelerate the warming trend because open ocean soaks up more heat from the sun than the reflective surface of an ice-covered sea.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-the-methane-time-bomb-938932.html


This has the potential to be real bad...the scary part is:  I don't think there is much we can do about it at this point.

Maybe its time we started planting trees. ALOT OF THEM.

Any idea of the energy potential that could be taken advantage of in this situation?

     If most of the global warming seems to be linked primarily to a man-made catastrophe, then why has some of the ice melted on Mars and the sun flares more abundant than in the past?

http://www.livescience.com/environment/070312_solarsys_warming.html

Everybody says that globalwarming is man-made, yes maybe, but if you see how the climate on the earth was for about 3 million years ago, you see it was different. For example, why is Greenland called "Greenland"? Maybe because it weren't any ice there. That can't be man made.

I also think that if the climate changes, people wound adjust their living even if for example the water level raised

How come when there is a global warming post, all the denialists come out to play from nowhere?

I don't know...this wasn't even a typical global warming thread.

I just read some interesting science info and thought I'd share...How many global warming debaters (on either side) talk about the mass quantities of natural methane release?

I wasn't trying to argue anything...just inform

I'm curious about this global warming.  Could it be an orbital fact that we are simply in an more extreme orbit around the sun?  This last summer has been cooler than other summers in Arizona so I am curious about the problem; if there is one.

Even if the warming is or is not caused by fossil fuels, I would like to have the USA locating energy away from the Middle East.  Since the Vietnam war, I have become anti-war knowing we cannot trust our government to stay focused on right over wrong. 

I watched the Science Channel last night and the desire for humans to live extended lives put me off.  Dr. Kaku showed a pine tree that lived over 5000 years and was still fertile.  Where will we put humans who also can continue breeding over the age of 100 years?   I often wonder how many of us actually produce something of value even after living 60 years?  I'm 75 and have only produced my family who are productive and I'm now redundant.  I have little interest in living much longer.  I would hate to think I added to global warming as I have planted many trees in all the homes that I have owned.  It was the least I could do. 

Does this make any sense?

No, no, i just think that all this talk about the global warming is exaggerated. Yes the earth i getting warmer, but I think it's caused by nature. But I'm don't global warming denier, because it's happening

I agree Massa.  But I still want out of the Middle East! 

Well, I think you already know that we have that time bomb happening right now with cattle feed lots.  The amount of C02 created from it  exceeds that of the burning of coal and gas combined. (supposedly, might want to do some research on that)

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html#q10

The website has lots of answers to common questions.