Methane Gas And Climate Change

[knocker]

Arctic Storms, Warming Mean More Methane Released

 

Underneath the Arctic Ocean sits a large reserve of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Understanding how much of that is making it to the atmosphere is an important but relatively new area of research. The latest findings published on Sunday in Nature indicate that more could be escaping than previously thought, thanks in part to stormy weather.

 

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/storms-warming-mean-more-arctic-methane-being-released-16775

[knocker]

Study: Arctic seafloor methane releases double previous estimates

 

The seafloor off the coast of Northern Siberia is releasing more than twice the amount of methane as previously estimated, according to new research results published in the Nov. 24 edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.

 

The East Siberian Arctic Shelf is venting at least 17 teragrams of the methane into the atmosphere each year. A teragram is equal to 1 million tons.

 

“It is now on par with the methane being released from the arctic tundra, which is considered to be one of the major sources of methane in the Northern Hemisphere,†said Natalia Shakhova, one of the paper’s lead authors and a scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “Increased methane releases in this area are a possible new climate-change-driven factor that will strengthen over time.â€

 

http://uafcornerstone.net/ESAS2013/

[Guest]

Unlike CO2, methane has a relatively short time in the atmosphere before it breaks down - about 10 years, so on the positive side if we can find a way of containing it before it is released into the atmosphere it would become less of threat I the foreseeable future.

 

Not sure how we can stop cows from farting though

[Gray-Wolf]

I think the concern is the forcing that it imparts over it's lifetime Mike? before it is distributed globally it impacts locally so that 'spike' of warming will impact the very places we don't want to see warming over. As it breaks down it degrades into CO2 and so it's life as a climate driver is not limited to it's CH4 incarnation?

 

The report Knock's links to appears at the same time that 'European estimates' ,of Man made methane production, are found to be seriously underestimating the amounts being produced esp. over the oil and gas facilities  ( http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/us/emissions-of-methane-in-us-exceed-estimates-study-finds.html? ).

 

Once we find natural forcings turn toward more toward atmospheric warming again we may find that these new 'short lived' forcings do play an important role in the next phase of warming across the globe? We should be mindful that each time we hit 'renewed warming' the planet has already been 'altered' by the past accelerations in atmospheric warming ( be it the 30's and 40's or the 80's/90's) so some of the planets 'soak up' potential has been eroded ( less ice volume/changes to snow cover across the seasons,permafrost already in melt, albedo flip  etc?) so the potential to warm,from the 'same' forcing, is surely increased? If this is reasonable to expect then we should also expect that the 'feedbacks' we are told to expect may become augmented across such periods further exacerbating things?

 

This is why I am so concerned about 'change' as it does not seem likely to be a 'linear progression' but one of spurts and slowdowns? The slowdown prior to this ( dimmed period) seem far more impacting than what we have experienced so far and so I have to wonder if such events are both 'milding' and 'shortening' in their impacts? Should the next 5 years show a move toward more atmospheric warming again then not only will we need worry about the impacts , this time around, of the warming spurt but also how little the next 'hiatus' may impact our warming?

[BornFromTheVoid]

Seems relevant here...

 

Strong atmospheric chemistry feedback to climate warming from Arctic methane emissions

 

The magnitude and feedbacks of future methane release from the Arctic region are unknown. Despite limited documentation of potential future releases associated with thawing permafrost and degassing methane hydrates, the large potential for future methane releases calls for improved understanding of the interaction of a changing climate with processes in the Arctic and chemical feedbacks in the atmosphere. Here we apply a “state of the art†atmospheric chemistry transport model to show that large emissions of CH4 would likely have an unexpectedly large impact on the chemical composition of the atmosphere and on radiative forcing (RF). The indirect contribution to RF of additional methane emission is particularly important. It is shown that if global methane emissions were to increase by factors of 2.5 and 5.2 above current emissions, the indirect contributions to RF would be about 250% and 400%, respectively, of the RF that can be attributed to directly emitted methane alone. Assuming several hypothetical scenarios of CH4 release associated with permafrost thaw, shallow marine hydrate degassing, and submarine landslides, we find a strong positive feedback on RF through atmospheric chemistry. In particular, the impact of CH4 is enhanced through increase of its lifetime, and of atmospheric abundances of ozone, stratospheric water vapor, and CO2 as a result of atmospheric chemical processes. Despite uncertainties in emission scenarios, our results provide a better understanding of the feedbacks in the atmospheric chemistry that would amplify climate warming.

 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010GB003845/abstract

[knocker]

Maybe following on from the above.

 

Last Hours

 

"Last Hours" is the first in a series of short films that explore the perils of climate change and the solutions to avert climate disaster. Each subsequent film will highlight fact-based challenges facing the human race, and offer solutions to ameliorate these crises. The initial short film series will culminate in a feature film to be presented prior to COP21, the 2015 UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris.An asset for the climate change movement, "Last Hours" will be disseminated globally to awaken modern culture worldwide about the various dangers associated with climate change."Last Hours" describes a science-based climate scenario where a tipping point to runaway climate change is triggered by massive releases of frozen methane. Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, has already started to percolate into the open seas and atmosphere from methane hydrate deposits beneath melting arctic ice, from the warming northern-hemisphere tundra, and from worldwide continental-shelf undersea methane clathrate pools.Burning fossil fuels release carbon that, principally through greenhouse effect, heat the atmosphere and the seas. This is happening most rapidly at the polar extremes, and this heating has already begun the process of releasing methane. If we do not begin to significantly curtail the use of carbon-based fossil fuels, this freed methane threatens to radically accelerate the speed of global warming, potentially producing a disaster beyond the ability of the human species to adapt.This first video is designed to awaken people to the fact that the earth has experienced five major extinctions in the deep geologic past -- times when more than half of all life on earth vanished -- and that we are now entering a sixth extinction. Industrial civilization with its production of greenhouse gases has the ability to trigger a mass extinction; in the extreme, it could threaten not just human civilization, but the very existence of human life on this planet.The world community and global citizens urgently need to chart a path forward that greatly reduces green house gas emissions. To take action and follow the pathway to solutions to the climate crisis, you can explore this website and you can also sign-up for future updates. Thank you."Last Hours" is presented and narrated by Thom Hartmann and directed by Leila Conners. Executive Producers are George DiCaprio and Earl Katz. Last Hours is produced by Mathew Schmid of Tree Media Foundation, and was written by Thom Hartmann, Sam Sacks, and Leila Conners. Music is composed and performed by Francesco Lupica.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRGVTK-AAvw

[4wd]

 

This first video is designed to awaken people to the fact that the earth has experienced five major extinctions in the deep geologic past -- times when more than half of all life on earth vanished -- and that we are now entering a sixth extinction. Industrial civilization with its production of greenhouse gases has the ability to trigger a mass extinction; in the extreme, it could threaten not just human civilization, but the very existence of human life on this planet.

Oh dear.

[Gray-Wolf]

Oh dear.

 

Indeed Four but  is it not what I've spoken of for many years now?

 

No matter what we do now we appear committed to a certain amount of warming that increasingly looks like it will come with a 'cost' in terms of associated feedbacks?

 

I know it's cloud cuckoo land but had we made a concerted global effort 10 yrs ago we may have stood a chance of offsetting the global nasties that we now appear committed too?

 

The calamitous collaboration of both naughty natural cycles and Fossil fuel fueled Misleader opportunism has robbed us of such a period of potential salvation from that which we would now appear committed to? 

 

As it is the impetus of such a delusional delay will, I believe, run us into the first major impacts that this apathetic dilly dallying has earned us. 

 

The impacts of the Arctic Amplification we now see impacting across the north will be the driver of these first 'out of the box' changes that challenge our abilities to avoid a 3c ( forget 2c we're already beyond that!) rise over the next 70 yrs.

[mikeworst]

[Methuselah]

^^Watts Up With That!

[Gray-Wolf]

 

Sadly it's Bovine Burps that appear to be more of an issue?

[knocker]

High methane levels over the Arctic Ocean on January 14, 2014

 

Above image shows IASI methane levels on January 14, 2014, when levels as high as 2329 ppb were recorded. This raises a number of questions. Did these high methane levels originate from releases from the Arctic Ocean, and if so, how could such high methane releases occur from the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean at this time of year, when temperatures in the northern hemisphere are falling?

 

http://arctic-news.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/high-methane-levels-over-the-arctic-ocean-on-january-14-2014.html?spref=tw

[Gray-Wolf]

I've been taking the occasional look at the figures over winter so far and the one thing I've seen is the high levels always present in Baffin? With seeing Nares open for a long period into winter it's highlighted the flow into Baffin from Lincoln and I have to wonder if the elevated readings over Baffin is related to this transport ( and the open water that the movement provides there) as the flow hits Baffin proper?

[4wd]

How is Methane released now 'warming the Arctic' when there isn't any daylight there?That's a very weird article which describes a normal process then veers off into some wild climate catastrophe stuff at the end as if methane wasn't produced until the last few years.Alarmist claptrap.

[knocker]

How is Methane released now 'warming the Arctic' when there isn't any daylight there?

That's a very weird article which describes a normal process then veers off into some wild climate catastrophe stuff at the end as if methane wasn't produced until the last few years.

Alarmist claptrap.

 

Do you not think that often it's beneficial to the debate if on occasion  a step back is taken from flowery 'alarmist claptrap' rhetoric? It achieves nothing. Apart from anything else most respected scientists in the field such as Richard Alley do not consider runaway global warming due to Methane or C0₂ release probable but to be aware that there is a risk and has happened in the past. So monitoring what is going on is common sense.

[BornFromTheVoid]

How is Methane released now 'warming the Arctic' when there isn't any daylight there?That's a very weird article which describes a normal process then veers off into some wild climate catastrophe stuff at the end as if methane wasn't produced until the last few years.Alarmist claptrap.

 

The article discuss why the methane might be released during the polar night, if you'd care to read it. But as usual, your mind already appears made up.

[Gray-Wolf]

I get the feeling that four is still in denial over the rapid changes we've all witnessed in the basin through the past ten years? The Canadians have been mapping the large scale fragmentation events since 08' ( at least) but when we mention them Four falls back on his " the Arctic has always produced leads over winter" mime ( generally with a random modis image of fractured sea ice?). Such events must be linked to ice thickness/age and so might just involve atmospheric exchanges that are 'new' to us all ( like the mercury/chlorine reports around Barrow we've all seen recently?) so monitoring them, and questioning the impacts, is all part of trying to understand this 'new Arctic'?

 

For four it is still the old Arctic so any mention of changes there are just 'alarmist claptrap'.......

 

The other areas I've been noticing change is Barentsz/Baltic/Greenland and was wondering if the lack of ice there is playing a role in emissions?

[knocker]

Blasted annoying pay walls again..

 

Methane on the Rise—Again

 

Roughly one-fifth of the increase in radiative forcing by human-linked greenhouse gases since 1750 is due to methane. The past three decades have seen prolonged periods of increasing atmospheric methane, but the growth rate slowed in the 1990s (1), and from 1999 to 2006, the methane burden (that is, the total amount of methane in the air) was nearly constant. Yet strong growth resumed in 2007. The reasons for these observed changes remain poorly understood because of limited knowledge of what controls the global methane budget

 

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/343/6170/493.short

Edited February 2, 2014 by knocker

[Gray-Wolf]

When we noted the slowdown in methane outputs some of it was put down to the impacts of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the gas corps tidying up there activities to cut down wasteful leaks and so maximise profits ( Those pesky Russians and their pipes again eh?). It was always viewed as an odd coincidence that the sudden uptick coincided with the Arctic meltdown of 07'. some thought the 'capping' of methane from the Arctic , by the ice, allowed it to better absorb in the waters and the removal of this 'ice cap' allowed more to make it into the atmosphere above.

 

Though we've seen the tales of ships captains seeing 'boiling oceans' in the east Siberian sea but this year we've seen huge out-gassing in the north of Baffin? Just where the Nares pours into the Baffin area. With the ice Bridges being late to form ,and restricted further toward the Lincoln sea, this year I'm wondering if this has had some kind of impact on Methane outputs?

 

That said we've seen record amounts , on and off, over the whole basin this winter?

 

Anyone wanting to check this out pop over to Methane Tracker. Com.

[knocker]

A methane mystery: Scientists probe unanswered questions about methane and climate change

http://skepticalscience.com/methane-mystery-carbon-brief.html#.UvpV3lWbOnw.twitter

[knocker]

A more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, methane emissions will leap as Earth warms

 

While carbon dioxide is typically painted as the bad boy of greenhouse gases, methane is roughly 30 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas. New research in the journal Nature indicates that for each degree that the Earth's temperature rises, the amount of methane entering the atmosphere from microorganisms dwelling in lake sediment and freshwater wetlands — the primary sources of the gas — will increase several times. As temperatures rise, the relative increase of methane emissions will outpace that of carbon dioxide from these sources, the researchers report.

 

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-03/pu-amp032714.php

[Gray-Wolf]

The predicted Super Nino could hike temps as much as 97's ( 0.8c) or more...... looks like a methane burp on the way?

[knocker]

Researchers: Permafrost thawing could accelerate global warming

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A team of researchers lead by Florida State University have found new evidence that permafrost thawing is releasing large quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere via plants, which could accelerate warming trends.

 

The research is featured in the newest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

"We've known for a while now that permafrost is thawing," said Suzanne Hodgkins, the lead author on the paper and a doctoral student in chemical oceanography at Florida State. "But what we've found is that the associated changes in plant community composition in the polar regions could lead to way more carbon being released into the atmosphere as methane."

 

Permafrost is soil that is frozen year round and is typically located in polar regions. As the world has gotten slightly warmer, that permafrost is thawing and decomposing, which is producing increased amounts of methane.

 

Relative to carbon dioxide, methane has a disproportionately large global warming potential. Methane is 33 times more effective at warming the Earth on a mass basis and a century time scale relative to carbon dioxide.

 

As the plants break down, they are releasing carbon into the atmosphere. And if the permafrost melts entirely, there would be five times the amount of carbon in the atmosphere than there is now, said Jeff Chanton, the John Widmer Winchester Professor of Oceanography at Florida State.

"The world is getting warmer, and the additional release of gas would only add to our problems," he said.

 

Chanton and Hodgkins' work, "Changes in peat chemistry associated with permafrost thaw increase greenhouse gas production," was funded by a three-year, $400,000 Department of Energy grant. They traveled to Sweden multiple times to collect soil samples for the study.

 

The research is a multicontinent effort with researchers from North America, Europe and Australia all contributing to the work.

 

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-04/fsu-rpt040714.php

Edited April 7, 2014 by knocker

[knocker]

Wetlands Likely to Blame for Greenhouse Gas Increases: Study

 

A surprising recent rise in atmospheric methane likely stems from wetland emissions, suggesting that much more of the potent greenhouse gas will be pumped into the atmosphere as northern wetlands continue to thaw and tropical ones to warm, according to a new international study led by a University of Guelph researcher.

 

http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2014/04/wetlands_likely.html

[knocker]

Control methane now, greenhouse gas expert warns

 

ITHACA, N.Y. – As the shale gas boom continues, the atmosphere receives more methane, adding to Earth’s greenhouse gas problem. Robert Howarth, greenhouse gas expert and ecology and environmental biology professor, fears that we may not be many years away from an environmental tipping point – and disaster.

 

http://mediarelations.cornell.edu/2014/05/14/control-methane-now-greenhouse-gas-expert-warns/