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Deadly gas alert for Earth

\/\/illy

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\/\/illy Newbie

\/\/illy

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Deadly gas alert for Earth

Seth Borenstein

Thursday, September 07, 2006

New research warns that global warming may be triggering a self-perpetuating climate time bomb trapped in once-frozen permafrost.

As the Earth warms, greenhouse gases once stuck in the long-frozen soil are bubbling into the atmosphere in much larger amounts than previously anticipated, according to a study in today's issue of Nature. Methane trapped in a special type of permafrost is bubbling up at a rate five times faster than originally measured.

Scientists are fretting about a global warming vicious cycle that had not been part of their already gloomy climate forecasts: warming already under way thaws permafrost, which is soil frozen continuously for thousands of years.

Thawed permafrost releases methane and carbon dioxide. Those gases reach the atmosphere and help trap heat - the greenhouse effect. The trapped heat then thaws more permafrost.

"The higher the temperature gets, the more permafrost we melt, the more tendency it is to become a more vicious cycle," said Chris Field, director of global ecology at Carnegie Institution in Washington. "That's the thing that is scary about this whole thing. There are lots of mechanisms that tend to be self- perpetuating and relatively few that tends to shut it off."

The effect reported in Nature is based on studies in Siberia - though it happens elsewhere - in a type of carbon-rich permafrost, flash frozen about 40,000 years ago. The bubbling methane was found to be 23 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than the more prevalent carbon dioxide.

"The effects can be huge," said lead author Katey Walter of the University of Alaska. "It's coming out a lot, and there's a lot more to come out."

Another study this summer, reported in Science, found the amount of carbon trapped in this type of permafrost - called "yedoma" - is much more prevalent than thought and may be 100 times the amount of carbon released each year by the burning of fossil fuels.

Not all will come out at once or even over several decades, but the methane and carbon dioxide will escape the soil if temperatures increase, scientists say.

Specialists in Arctic climate are coming up with research plans to study the effect, which is not well understood or observed, said Robert Corell, chairman of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a group of 300 scientists.

"It's kind of like a slow-motion time bomb," said Ted Schuur, an ecology professor at the University of Florida and co-author of the Science study.

"There's these big surprises out there that we don't even know about."

Most of this yedoma is in north and eastern Siberia - areas that until recently had not been studied closely.

What makes this permafrost special is that during a rapid onset ice age, carbon-rich plants were trapped in it.

As permafrost thaws, carbon is released as methane if under water in lakes. If dry, it is released into the air as carbon dioxide.

Scientists are not quite sure which is worse. Methane is far more powerful in trapping heat but only lasts about a decade before it dissipates into carbon dioxide and other chemicals. Carbon dioxide traps heat for about a century.

"The bottom line is it's better if it stays frozen," Schuur said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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timouse Newbie

timouse

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I saw this one yesterday, but figured it was too depressing even for me to post. Nice one, Willy! ;)

But that said, doesn't "Yedoma" make a good band name?

climate scientists have been worrying about this for a while now. as areas that were formerly frozen begin to melt, they become darker in colour. darker colours heat in sunlight, accellerating the process.

I think our one hope is for the oil to run out sooner rather than later. this old world is going to have a whole new structure/look in 100-150 years

yep.

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snarfmaster C Newbie

snarfmaster C

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if you want to make a difference, the only reasonable solution is to go vegan:

1. by reducing support of the cattle industry (reason for much rainforest destruction - remember how photosynthesis works? CO2 in, O2 out)

2. by reducing the cattle population (HUGE methane producers)

3. by increasing the demand (and thus area used)for crops (remember how photosynthesis works? CO2 in, O2 out)

(not to mention how freaking excellent you'll feel! sooo good!)

don't just sit there, DO SOMETHING!

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rubberdinghy Newbie

rubberdinghy

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if you want to make a difference, the only reasonable solution is to go vegan:

1. by reducing support of the cattle industry (reason for much rainforest destruction - remember how photosynthesis works? CO2 in, O2 out)

2. by reducing the cattle population (HUGE methane producers)

3. by increasing the demand (and thus area used)for crops (remember how photosynthesis works? CO2 in, O2 out)

(not to mention how freaking excellent you'll feel! sooo good!)

don't just sit there, DO SOMETHING!

No problem...I knew there would be a good reason to increase my burger consumption!

DOWN WITH THE COWS!

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