On a recent trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, Argentine geologist Dr. Rodolfo del Valle witnessed continuous bubbling under certain areas of the water’s surface. Measurements revealed that the bubbles were 99% methane gas.

With ice shelves in Western Antarctica and the Peninsula already noted to be melting due to climate change, the additional release of methane could, due to its potency, accelerate global warming beyond what scientists have described as an irreversible tipping point, leading then to immense Earth changes.

Dr. del Valle is now working to determine the potential impact of this greenhouse gas as he stated, “We believe there is a huge amount of destabilized methane deposits that may leak into the atmosphere and ramp up warming.”

He went on to speak of the changes seen throughout significant periods of geologic history, saying, “Of seven major mass extinctions that erased 90% of the species at the time, five are attributable to climate change, and one in particular – at the Permo-Triassic boundary – could be directly attributable to mass methane release in the Upper Paleozoic.”

Dr. del Valle, we appreciate your work alerting us to this most recent evidence of continued climate change. Let us join in a rapid response to preserve a habitable ecosystem for all beings while we still have time.
Supreme Master Ching Hai has cautioned on previous occasions about the risks of methane release due to global warming, while also highlighting an effective way to stop it, as during a September 2008 interview on the US-based Environmentally Sound Radio.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/antarctic-methane-lakes/