Oooops! From 2010: "But Shakhova pointed out that scientists had not thought subsea permafrost would begin to thaw and release the gas. She said more research is needed to figure out whether the methane leaking from the #EastSiberianArcticShelf is an ongoing, steady phenomenon, or whether it suggests a new source of the gas is emerging as seafloor permafrost thaws."

March 5, 2010

Methane Leaks off Siberian Coast, Speeding Climate Change

Warmer oceans are thawing methane deposits, adding more of the greenhouse gas to the atmosphere

By Lauren Morello & ClimateWire

"A large amount of methane is bubbling up from the ocean floor east of Siberia at a surprising rate and could accelerate climate change, researchers said yesterday.

The gas is bubbling up from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf because warming ocean water is thawing permafrost, allowing methane trapped underneath to escape. The amount of methane emitted by that one patch of seabed roughly equals the amount scientists believed was released by all of the world's oceans."

Read more:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/methane-siberia-climate-change/

#MethaneLeaks #Methane #ArcticOcean #Siberia #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #GlobalWarming #Copernicus #GreenhouseGas #Collapse #MethaneBomb #ClimateFeedbackloop

Sea of #methane sealed beneath #Arctic #permafrost could trigger climate feedback loop if it escapes

A sea of migrating methane discovered below the permafrost in Svalbard may eventually escape its icy prison if the permafrost continues to thaw due to #ClimateChange.

By Sascha Pare
published December 20, 2023

"Deep beneath the permafrost that blankets a group of islands in the #ArcticOcean lurks a growing and migrating sea of methane, researchers have discovered.

"The thick permafrost, or ground that remains frozen for at least two years, forms a tight seal that has so far prevented millions of cubic feet of methane from wafting out — but there's no guarantee that the potent greenhouse gas won't eventually escape, according to a study published Dec. 13 in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science.

"At present, the leakage from below permafrost is very low, but factors such as glacial retreat and permafrost thawing may 'lift the lid' on this in the future," lead author Thomas Birchall, a geologist at the University Center in Svalbard in Norway, said in a statement."

Read more:
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/arctic/sea-of-methane-sealed-beneath-arctic-permafrost-could-trigger-climate-feedback-loop-if-it-escapes

#MethaneLeaks #Methane #ArcticOcean #Norway #Svalsbad #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #GlobalWarming #Copernicus #GreenhouseGas #Collapse #MethaneBomb #ClimateFeedbackloop