The Methane is Rising and Humanity’s Time on Earth is Growing Much Shorter | Robert Heston

My ultimate, ongoing concern with the climate problem is primarily Arctic Ocean methane and the nearby CO2 and methane release from the neighboring permafrost areas. The northern permafrost areas are melting back at an accelerating rate and releasing as much CO2 as humans did with fossil fuels in the 1950’s. Add that to what we humans emit now. There are millions of square miles of it and it is loaded with the stuff. Micro organisms in the soils eat carbon and emit carbon dioxide. Added to that are many pockets of methane that have begun to explode out of the permafrost (ground) along Northern Siberia leaving very large craters. Notice the photo of one here.

Enormous holes were formed by methane eruptions triggered by melting permafrost

More dangerous than the permafrost is the Arctic Ocean. Methane Hydrate floats around in parts of it like a slushy drink but that is only part of what lies beneath. There are very large swaths of frozen methane laced along the seabed of the Arctic Ocean with enough volume to kill the life on this planet twenty times over. The covering ice above is tapering back at an alarming rate and is practically non-existent during the Summer, the surrounding atmosphere is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, warming ocean currents from Pacific and Atlantic flow into it while increasing exposure to the sun acts on the water there. Methane is at least 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. There is the very real potential of a warming event occurring that will send enough methane out of the Arctic Ocean, over a period of just several days, sufficient in volume to kill off practically all life on this planet.

Other sources of methane around the world have been increasing. There is a very large amount of it coming from agriculture. Cows, chickens, and pigs produce more greenhouse gas than all the trucks and cars in the world. Drilling for oil tends to produce quite a lot of it as well, especially fracking. There are also many other areas within the oceans, lakes, and wetlands of the world that produce large amounts of methane. Of course, there is also the direct burning of fossil fuels by us for power generation and transportation. All things combined are slowly killing us but the Arctic methane can and will do it alone.

Our president (Trump, at the time of this article) is a total idiot who denies all of this. There’s a small army of deniers out there trying to convince the public that there is no such thing as global warming. They ignore science and the abundant facts and evidence. Our government is inhabited by corporate and Wall street representatives who have opened the floodgates to the destruction of life on this planet. They are deregulating fossil fuels and its use increases while progress towards renewable, green energy is not nearly enough. Within a few years we will pass the point of no return and there will be no way to stop the progression of our demise. Global warming has increased to the point that the abundant natural sources of greenhouse gases will increase output by virtue of their existing output thereby causing feedback loops. Within a few years, we could completely stop all fossil fuel output and it will be too late to prevent the progression of global warming.

Imamage, arctic-methane-in-the-water — Frozen Methane Hydrate fills areas of the Arctic Ocean. Impending warming will be releasing it.

There is approximately 1,000 Gigatons of frozen methane estimated to be present in the Arctic Ocean. That is One-Thousand multiplied by One-Billion tons. (1,000 x 1,000,000,000) Most of it is laced along the surface of the seabed. Large amounts of it are simply floating in the water (as shown in the photograph). Any time between now and the next thirty years there will be a catastrophic release of methane that will end the life on this planet. Just 50 of the 1,000 gigatons gets released in a warming event and it will be the end. First the plant life begins dying then everything follows.

Photo: ‘Usually, I catch on fire’: Ecologist blows up thousands of methane bubble ‘grenades’ trapped in frozen lakes

Using a pick axe, Katey, an ecologist at the University of Alaska, pierces the bubble trapped in the ice. As gas rushes out from the hole, one of her students holds a lighted match towards it and ignites the vapour, causing it to explode.
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The deniers claim that CO2 and methane do not act as a greenhouse gas. They will not admit that this gas we create and cause to be released traps the heat from the sun and is causing global warming. They do not realize that if it were not for these greenhouse gases, they and the life on this planet would not even exist. If what they say were true, this planet would be frozen. Too much of it and life here will and is going to perish.

Below are links to related articles.

Refer also to Arctic & Global Methane Emissions | Articles: Oct. 2, 2021 at this website for some more recent articles and videos.

Can we harness the Arctic’s methane for energy? | September 1, 2020

Why Methane Is a Large and Underestimated Threat to Climate Goals | February 24, 2022

Methane rise is accelerating | March 12, 2022

Terrifying Arctic methane levels | December 11, 2021

Planetary Extinction due to Arctic Atmospheric Methane Veil | December 6, 2021

Melting of Ice Sheets Is Dramatic, But Melting of Permafrost Means Mass Death

Arctic Bogs Hold Another Global Warming Risk That Could Spiral Out of Control – Feb. 19, 2019

Arctic Cauldron: Across the Arctic, lakes are leaking dangerous greenhouse gases. – Sept. 22, 2018

Looking the climate abyss in the eye! | Arctic News | September 24, 2018

The Arctic Is Heating at a Record Pace, With No Signs of Slowing