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Tuesday 13 December 2011
Leading article: Arctic methane: a risk it would be unwise to ignore
There are some certainties and many unknowns when it comes to climate change. We know that CO2 is a powerful greenhouse gas, that we are pumping huge quantities of it into the atmosphere, and that this is pushing up temperatures. Of all the uncertainties, however, perhaps the most alarming is what may become of the vast stores of methane under the Arctic.
For many thousands of years, such methane – many times more warming than CO2 – has been trapped by the ice. As temperatures rise, it is starting to seep out, raising fears of a sudden, catastrophic release of methane into the atmosphere, massively accelerating climate change.
It may be a low-risk possibility, but it would certainly be a high-impact event. We must start exploring all possible solutions now. By the time the methane "time bomb" starts ticking, it will be too late.
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Woolwich: The EDL were camped outside my house
Emily Jupp -
Grace Dent: I’m not sure how these people can avoid being called ‘bigots’. And the more ‘civilised’, the worse they are
Grace Dent -
The Daily Cartoon
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Woolwich murder: They killed, then they performed - these men should be starved of our attention
Frank Furedi -
Woolwich attack: The EDL will seek to exploit this evil crime for their own evil ends
Jamie Lewis
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Woolwich murder: They killed, then they performed - these men should be starved of our attention
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Woolwich: The EDL were camped outside my house
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Woolwich is only the latest act of barbarism: Muslims, we must take on this cancer in our midst
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Embrace the e-book, Stephen King. It is not for an author to tell his readers how to read
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What, let gays get married? We must be bonkers
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Debate: Is it right to call the murder in Woolwich a ‘terrorist attack’?
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