Steve Connor: The ultimate gas leak that scientists dreaded
Latest in Commentators
Opinion blogs
The Iraq Canard
The anti-war Blair rage is subsiding. The proof is that Lord Sumption’s lecture at the London ...
Victory over the “foreign court”
Jack Straw and David Davis have a joint article in the Telegraph today, urging the Government to ign...
Why do some men consider the street as a female meat market?
Pronouncements on sexual inequality in the UK are normally met with an eye roll by my generation. As...
Related articles
There are two significant facts about methane in terms of global warming. It is about 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and there are massive stores of it locked away under the permafrost of the northern hemisphere.
Methane is produced naturally by the decay of water-logged vegetation. Over thousands of years it has accumulated under the ground at northern latitudes and has effectively been taken out of circulation by the permafrost acting as an impermeable lid.
What makes methane so potentially dangerous is that its release from under the now-leaking permafrost could accelerate global warming, which in turn would speed the melting of the permafrost and release even more methane. Scientists believe this has happened in the geological past with devastating consequences for the global climate and life.
Like carbon dioxide, average methane concentrations in the atmosphere have risen significantly since the Industrial Revolution, increasing from about 700 parts per billion (ppb) in 1800 to about 1,790ppb today. Much of this increase is down to human activities, notably oil and gas exploration, and agriculture.
For the past 10 years, average global methane concentrations have levelled out, probably because of improvements in Russian gas exploration. However, for the first time in more than a decade, scientists recorded an increase in global methane in 2007 and are set to measure a further increase this year.
Scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have identified the Arctic as a potentially important new source of methane as temperatures in the region increase; it is one of the most rapidly warming places on Earth. "We're on the look-out for the first sign of a methane release from thawing Arctic permafrost. It's too soon to tell whether last year's spike in emissions includes the start of such a trend," said NOAA's methane expert Ed Dlugokencky last April.
The good news about methane is that it is quickly degraded in the environment, with an average lifetime of about 12 years, compared to the 100 years of carbon dioxide. The bad news is that we do not understand how the methane stores in the north will behave as the region experiences more extensive thaws. The fear is that the amounts released will make global warming far worse than expected.
- 1 Robert Fisk: The going price of getting away with murder... would $33m be enough?
- 2 Ian Birrell: Geldof's obsession with aid hurt Africa. But now trade is healing the scars
- 3 Hardeep Singh Kohli: For me, it is all about 'Gregory's Girl', a record of first love
- 4 DJ Taylor: How to spot a leftie – an idiot's guide
- 5 Patrick Cockburn: I fear this terrible massacre will be the beginning of a long civil war in Syria
- 6 Leading article: Ten questions for Jeremy Hunt
- 7 The Daily Cartoon
- 8 Dita Von Teese: What's underneath all that corsetry and red lipstick?
- 9 Leading article: Questions for Mr Blair to address
- 10 Leading article: Russia must act now to halt Assad's slaughter
- 1 Robert Fisk: The going price of getting away with murder... would $33m be enough?
- 2 Brazil rocked by abortion for 9-year-old rape victim
- 3 Hardcore, hard-wired: How the prevalence of porn is changing our everyday lives
- 4 Principled Skinner rises above the fray
- 5 Fat? Really? Olympic hope laughs off official’s jibe – but others aren’t amused
- 6 News International 'tried to blackmail select committee'
- 7 'Hello mum, this is going to be hard for you to read ...'
- 8 Postgraduate students are being used as 'slave labour'
- 9 Coke reveals its secret: It may need to carry a cancer warning
- 10 French in uproar over oral sex anti-smoking posters
Experience the Heineken Hub
Get free wi-fi and exclusive i content while you enjoy a tasty pint of Heineken at participating pubs.
Can you imagine a career in teaching?
Be inspired to teach - let real teachers show you how rewarding the job can be.
Playing a game-changing role during the Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
The secret life of the red carpet
Up and away – how '7 Up' went global



Comments