Methane Madness

Large amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, are trapped and concentrated in the frozen Arctic tundra but are also found as semi-solid gas hydrates under the sea. The impact of rising temperatures on permafrost AND the diminishing ice cover in the East Siberian sea is allowing the waters to warm and the methane to leach out.  Researchers examined the impact of the release of a plausible 50-gigatonnes of methane over a decade.The impact would increase flooding, sea level rise, damage to agriculture and human health. The effects of the extra methane would be felt most in developing countries.

"That's an economic time bomb that at this stage has not been recognised on the world stage," said Prof Gail Whiteman at Erasmus University in the Netherlands "We think its incredibly important for world leaders to really discuss what are the implications of this methane release and what could we indeed do about it to hopefully prevent the whole burst from happening."

"We are looking at a big effect," said Prof Peter Wadhams from the University of Cambridge, "a possibly catastrophic effect on global climate that's a consequence of this extremely fast sea ice retreat that's been happening in recent years."

Many science fiction novels and movies often depict the “mad scientist”. However, it is scientists that are providing us with the early warnings and  it is the capitalist class who are the mad ones, fully prepared to risk a rise in global disasters rather than risk a drop in their profits.