Scientists
from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks in the USA have reported
that the shallow undersea permafrost in Siberia, which until recent
years was stable, is now noted as releasing significant amounts of
methane, even more than the record highs from Summer 2008.
According
to lead scientist Professor Igor Semiletov, who is also head of the
International Siberian Shelf Study (ISSS), the region is experiencing
the fastest temperature rise of the planet.
Springtime air is
currently measured at an average of 4 degrees Celsius higher than in the
last three decades of the 20th century. Sudden releases of methane gas
are linked to runaway global warming and are considered a factor in the
past mass extinction of species.
The Alaskan researchers state
that if the current warming conditions continue, the melting of
underwater Siberian permafrost would release catastrophic amounts of
methane.
Dr. Sergey Kirpotin – Tomsk University (Quote in Russian):
As more permafrost melts, more greenhouse gases are released into the
atmosphere. It is absolutely evident. We could be uncertain in
quantitative terms, but the fact that this process has a global
character, global importance and global scale is absolutely evident.
Vladimir Chuprov – Greenpeace Russia Representative (Quote in Russian):It
is essential to come up with a new international agreement that could
guarantee the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – the causes of the
global climate change.
Only then could we slow down these
negative processes that take place also in the Russian Arctic. Professor
Semiletov and University of Alaska colleagues, we appreciate this
clarion call about the dire signals being conveyed by our Earth.
May
we all deeply realize the grave nature of climate change and act now to
protect our shared planetary home. As on many occasions, Supreme Master
Ching Hai explained during an October 2009 videoconference in Hong Kong
the urgent situation of methane gas release, while offering the surest
solution.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
There are massive quantities of gases, poisonous and explosive, such as
under the permafrost. The gas released then causes more warming, which
causes even more gas to be released. This is like a vicious circle. They
even call this vicious feedback cycle a so-called “climate time bomb.”
We are running out of time, we must wake up soon; we must make a small
sacrifice and changes.
I am hopeful. I’m having a positive
feeling that it won’t happen to Earth, but we all must work; we cannot
sit there and wait for a miracle to happen. God needs us to represent
Hirm in compassion, in merciful heart, in the way we live a godly life,
befitting God’s children. If we all become vegan and live a virtuous,
compassionate life, it won’t happen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8437703.stm
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