Methane leaks in the Arctic could accelerate climate change

Methane leaks in the Arctic could accelerate climate change, according to researchers, who recently found patches of methane in remote regions of the Arctic Ocean away from known methane sources.

Global warming has caused the Arctic sea ice to break apart, and in doing so, it opens up massive amounts of methane which could be released into the atmosphere from the cold waters beneath. Researchers have been in the Arctic for some time collecting data on this climate change phenomenon, and recent indications suggest that the methane levels could be more widespread than first anticipated.

New evidence has revealed high concentrates of methane in the air above the cracks in the ice. This could exacerbate Arctic warming, and could also accelerate global climate change if other methane stores are released.

Researchers are already aware of these vast stores of methane that the Arctic holds, but this doesn't explain why Eric Kort of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and his colleagues found patches of methane in remote regions of the Arctic Ocean, far from any of these known methane sources.

According to Mr Cork, in the methane-rich regions, around two milligrams of the gas were being released per square metre of ocean every day. Some have suggested that some of this could be coming from oil rigs and gas plants in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, but the researchers said that prevailing wind directions make these plants an unlikely source of the release.

In order to confirm these findings, replica tests need to be carried out. Euan Nisbet, an earth scientist at Royal Holloway, University of London said if they are confirmed then  mechanism could prove to be a significant source of greenhouse gas.

He added: "We know the Arctic is warming very fast indeed, and as the warming climate leads to more breaks in the sea ice, more ice-surrounded patches of open water will be able to release their methane, further accelerating global warming.”

Posted by Claire Manning