Signs of Runaway Greenhouse Effects Happening Now?

international | environment | other press

Monday January 08, 2007 19:18

by Terence

Methane escaping from Ocean Floors

According to thelong running Wayne Madsen website, who is a former intelligence officer in the US, there are reports from captains of tankers which would have methane sensors onboard due to their cargo, that there has been an increase in alarms going off on these sensors and that it is in fact not caused by their cargo, but Methane gas escaping or bubbling up from the Ocean floor especially along the Hudson Submarine Canyon over the eastern USA.

Methane as many know, while having a shorter half-life in the atmosphere than CO-2, is a much more potent greenhouse gas. Over the past few decades, ocean scientists had discovered that many areas of the deep ocean floor contained significant deposits of what are known as Methane Hydrates. At the cold temperatures of the deep ocean which are typically 4 deg celsius (also corresponds to temperate at which water achieves maximum density), the methane hydrates exist in a complex methane-water crystal structure. It seems it is these that may be releasing the gas, if these reports can be confirmed.

Apparently the deposits of these hydrates globally are very large and have even been entertained as a future alternative to oil & gas which of course is a mad idea, considering how much warming there is already. However concern has often been raised but never taken too seriously that significant amounts of this gas could be released if there was a temperature increase leading to a surge in atmospheric methane and thus creating a potent postive feedback loop.

In many ways, this report is similar to the way the Chernobyl accident was initially discovered in Western Europe when returning nuclear workers were returning to work at Swedish Nuclear power stations and the radiation sensors picked up the increased radioactivity except it was coming from outside. In this scenario it seems the sensors on board the tankers installed for safety are picking up emissions from the environment.

Here's some extract from the report found at the URL below.

January 8, 2007 -- The environmental "surge" you're not hearing anything about.

According to U.S. maritime industry sources, tanker captains are reporting an increase in onboard alarms from hazard sensors designed to detect hydrocarbon gas leaks and, specifically, methane leaks. However, the leaks are not emanating from cargo holds or pump rooms but from continental shelves venting increasing amounts of trapped methane into the atmosphere. With rising ocean temperatures, methane is increasingly escaping from deep ocean floors. Methane is also 21 more times capable of trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

In fact, one of the major sources for increased methane venting is the Hudson Submarine Canyon, which extends into the Atlantic 400 miles from the New York-New Jersey harbor. Another location experiencing increased venting is the Santa Barbara Channel on the California coast.

Ideally this report needs to be confirmed but if true, represent something that needs close investigation.