Air samples taken at the bottom of one of the craters that have recently appeared in Siberia seem to support fears that the hole was formed by methane released from melting permafrost directly linked to the abnormally hot Yamal summers of 2012 and 2013.
As temperatures rose, the permafrost thawed and collapsed, releasing methane that had been trapped in the icy ground. An expedition from the Scientific Center of Arctic Studies found methane concentrations of 9.6% at the bottom of the crater which recently appeared on the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia - 50,000 times the atmospheric average.
This is certainly not good news about our warming atmosphere.
Since the first giant methane blow-hole appeared in mid-july, two more have since been discovered, with many scientists worrying this signals the beginning of a runaway climate change.
There's been a lot of dark humour about these holes signalling the end of the world, and many enjoying the irony that they were discovered in the Yamal Peninsula, a name which literally means 'end of the land'.
However, if we don't get atmospheric temperatures down, the joke could be on us.
Dr. Jason Box, who has highlighted the appearance of dangerous spikes in methane above Siberia, sums it up pretty well, “If we don’t get atmospheric carbon down and cool the Arctic, the climate physics and recent observations tell me we will probably trigger the release of these vast carbon stores, dooming our kids’ to a hothouse Earth.”
Scientists are continuing their studies of the craters, or 'Dragon’s mouths' as some are calling them, but the most likely scenario at present is that climate change had something to do with their appearance.
Data shows enormous and erratic spikes in methane readings coming from Siberia in the past years. “I can tell you (these are) really high end,” Dr Box writes.
Dr. Box would much rather the “dragons” remain dormant, and he is not alone.
Methane left trapped under the Arctic permafrost is a ticking time bomb because " Atmospheric methane release is a much bigger problem than atmospheric carbon dioxide release, since methane is ~20 times more powerful greenhouse gas,” he writes, which could literally mean goodbye to the world as we know it.
So what's the takeaway from all of this?
- 1. Elevated atmospheric carbon from fossil fuel burning is the trigger mechanism poking these climate dragons.
- 2. To avoid runaway climate change we simply MUST lower atmospheric carbon emissions.
- 3. We need to change the trajectory we are on, and do it now!
People are already starting to understand what increased sea levels as an impact of climate change will mean for humanity (well, maybe not Rupert Murdoch ), but methane entering the atmosphere because of melting permafrost, well this just isn't talked about very much.
But it should be, as Dr. Box says "the trajectory we’re on is to awaken a runaway climate heating that will ravage global agricultural systems leading to mass famine, conflict. Sea level rise will be a small problem by comparison."