Unprecedented release of deadly methane in the Arctic. In an extensive field study of 10,000 square miles of sea floor near the East Siberian Arctic shelf, researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences measured the number and size of plumes or fountains of methane bubbling to the surface from the sea bed.
To their surprise, they found over 100 plumes, with some whose size exceeded one kilometer in diameter, representing a massive increase compared to visits a decade earlier when they had been less than 100 meters wide.
Scientists have already been expressing concern for the hundreds of millions of tons of methane locked in frozen permafrost beneath the Arctic, which could cause runaway global warming once a certain amount melts and is released into the atmosphere.
Lead author Dr. Igor Semiletov of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences said he had never witnessed methane being released on such a scale or with such force before, saying that the gas being measured was not only going directly into the atmosphere, it was doing so at concentrations 100 times higher than normal.
In appreciation for your work, Dr. Semiltov, we join in deep concern for these findings. May we step together in rapid efforts to restore planetary balance through humane and sustainable lifestyles.
During a December 2010 press conference in Cancún, Mexico, Supreme Master Ching Hai mentioned the dangerous methane gas release from the Arctic as being just part of the reason why a faster solution is needed to stop rising temperatures.
Supreme Master Ching Hai : Potent methane gas, once frozen beneath the Earth, has become a ticking time bomb due to rising temperatures in the Arctic and is now set to trigger runaway climate change.
We are living the worst-case scenario and the scientists are crying out for us to hit the emergency brake now, and hard. Scientists are now saying that we must take advantage of shorter-lived emissions like methane, which heats the atmosphere 100 times more than CO2 but disappears quickly, in 9 or 12 years, and black carbon (or soot), which generates 4,470 times more warming potential than CO2, but disappears within a few weeks.
So it’s the emergency brake that we need, and the place to start is the livestock industry. Because the livestock industry, animal raising, generates the largest human-made source of methane.
It is also a very large source of black carbon, or soot, and accounts for at least 51% of all greenhouse gas emissions that heat up our planet. So if we stop the livestock industry, then we will stop global warming – fast and simple.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/environment/arctic-ice-retreat-frees-deadly-methane-gas-16090240.html http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10773020Extra NewsA report dated December 14, 2011 reveals that water level on the River Danube in Europe continue to diminish due to the persistent drought in Southern and Eastern part of the continent,creating further transportation difficulties and impacting the generation of electricity from hydropower.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204026804577100302969404354.html?mod=googlenews_wsj http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-14/europe-s-clogged-arteries-drive-up-costs-and-uncover-old-bombs.htmlhttp://www.agi.it/english-version/world/elenco-notizie/201112161458-cro-ren1051-alarm_over_dry_danube_barges_stuck_turbines_slow
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