The melting of glaciers has been touted for decades as a threat to world peace – usually because the enormous amount of water added to the oceans will raise water levels on our planet and drown New York, London, the Lund and Gush Dan. But recently a new and no less frightening danger has emerged that melting glaciers could bring upon us. We used Forefront to calmly explain the possible disaster.
Scientists have discovered large deposits of methane gas in 'pockets' under the ice in the Arctic. Methane, the dominant greenhouse gas, the main component of cooking gas and one of the world's most flammable substances, is now trapped in the thick layer of permafrost soil. However, because climate change is causing Arctic temperatures to rise, the stability of these underground methane reserves may be undermined and they may be ejected.
A recent study mapped methane deposits across the Svalbard archipelago, located halfway between Norway and the North Pole. Using data from drilling holes, researchers found that methane is much more abundant under the ice than previously thought. If similar deposits exist in the wider Arctic, it may indicate huge volumes of methane trapped in permafrost soils.
Today, permafrost acts as a gasket that traps methane. But as the Earth warms, Arctic ice begins to melt and deteriorate. In some areas, the "active layer" of soil—that is, the depth of ice that melts in the summer and reforms the following winter—has deepened significantly. If thinning the permafrost layer undermines methane pockets, it could break to the surface and cause a dangerous sequence of events.
Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. The release of trapped Arctic methane has the potential to greatly accelerate global warming. As temperatures rise further due to methane emissions, more permafrost will thaw and stability will be further undermined, risking the uncontrollable release of underground gas reserves. Scientists warn that this scenario could disrupt efforts to curb climate change by reducing other greenhouse gases.
Exact estimates of the amount of methane trapped are still elusive, but it is estimated to be several million cubic meters – a negligible fraction of gas reservoirs such as Tamar and Leviathan, but it is nevertheless a huge amount of concern.
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