Methane Time Bomb DETONATING before our very eyes

BREAKING NEWS - Hundreds of gigantic methane plumes, some over 1 kilometer / 0.6 miles wide - 10X larger than any seen before - have been observed bubbling to the sea surface in just a small sample area no larger than 10,000 sq.km (~ 22km x 22km x 22km / 13mi x 13 mi x 13 mi) in the Laptev Sea region off of Siberia.




............. The Eastern Arctic is on the bottom of the 2007 pic, where the sea ice has melted off, exposing dark ocean waters which absorbs solar heat and warms up faster than anywhere on Earth.


Some have asked me what has been happening to the Arctic sea ice since the huge meltdown of 2007. My readers may recall my writing back in 2008/2009, that due to the vast amount of Latent Heat of Fusion absorbed by the huge ice melt of 2007, the Arctic would be temporarily cooled for 2008 and likely also 2009, but that another big melt would probably recur in 2010 and or 2011. As the following graph attests, it is exactly what has happened.


............. Exposed Methane hydrate on the sea floor degassing.

We're looking at the Methane Time Bomb DETONATING before our very eyes, ladies and gentlemen. This "M-Bomb" is more powerful and destructive than all the H-Bombs of all nations combined, by far. And yet, by some incredible twist of human stupidity, it is NOT on the agenda of the latest climate convention which concluded on waiting until 2015 before discussing what to do as of 2020, which unfortunately some find conforting. But those in the know will agree that unless we do something we have never done before, RIGHT NOW, we're toast.



http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/shock-as-retreat-of-arctic-sea-ice-releases-deadly-greenhouse-gas-6276134.html


Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases deadly greenhouse gas

Russian research team astonished after finding 'fountains' of methane bubbling to surface

The Independent
by Steve Connor
Tuesday 13 December 2011

Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region.

The scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the head of the Russian research team who has been surveying the seabed of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Igor Semiletov, of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that he has never before witnessed the scale and force of the methane being released from beneath the Arctic seabed.

"Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of metres in diameter. This is the first time that we've found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures, more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing," Dr Semiletov said. "I was most impressed by the sheer scale and high density of the plumes. Over a relatively small area we found more than 100, but over a wider area there should be thousands of them."

Scientists estimate that there are hundreds of millions of tonnes of methane gas locked away beneath the Arctic permafrost, which extends from the mainland into the seabed of the relatively shallow sea of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. One of the greatest fears is that with the disappearance of the Arctic sea-ice in summer, and rapidly rising temperatures across the entire region, which are already melting the Siberian permafrost, the trapped methane could be suddenly released into the atmosphere leading to rapid and severe climate change.

Dr Semiletov's team published a study in 2010 estimating that the methane emissions from this region were about eight million tonnes a year, but the latest expedition suggests this is a significant underestimate of the phenomenon.

In late summer, the Russian research vessel Academician Lavrentiev conducted an extensive survey of about 10,000 square miles of sea off the East Siberian coast. Scientists deployed four highly sensitive instruments, both seismic and acoustic, to monitor the "fountains" or plumes of methane bubbles rising to the sea surface from beneath the seabed.

"In a very small area, less than 10,000 square miles, we have counted more than 100 fountains, or torch-like structures, bubbling through the water column and injected directly into the atmosphere from the seabed," Dr Semiletov said. "We carried out checks at about 115 stationary points and discovered methane fields of a fantastic scale – I think on a scale not seen before. Some plumes were a kilometre or more wide and the emissions went directly into the atmosphere – the concentration was a hundred times higher than normal."

Dr Semiletov released his findings for the first time last week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

............. The praying posture is appropriate.


Anthony Marr, Founder and President
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