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Showing entries for Category: Methane
Methane Gas in the atmosphere on the rise
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Rate of Change in Ice Sheet Height in cm per year
Source: NOAA
Methane is the second most potent greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, which increased by 0.6% last year.
Carbon Dioxide comes from burning fossil fuels. Methane comes from landfills, natural gas released in the atmosphere, animal waste, and decaying plants. It is ancient decaying plants that most worry scientists. These are plants that are frozen in northern permafrost that has trapped tremendous quantities of methane gas for millions of years. That permafrost is melting due to global warming and scientists are concerned that the methane gas will be released into the atmosphere. This creates a feedback loop where the released methane further raises temperatures, which then releases even more methane.
These types of feedback loops will grow exponentially once they get started and there will be no good way to stop or slow them down. Other feedback loops can also contribute to more global warming. As Arctic ice melts, more ground and water are exposed to sunlight, which reflect less sunlight than ice thus retaining more heat energy. This again raises temperatures, which then releases more methane gas.
The big problem here is the Greenland Ice Sheet. This vast body of ice covers 660,000 square miles. The ice is about 2 miles thick and contains 684,000 cubic miles of water. If all this ice melted it would raise sea levels by 23 feet, inundating all of the world’s costal areas. Even a very small amount of melting could have terrible effects on many coastal cities. Temperatures are rising rapidly in the northern latitudes. Greenland will become surrounded by warmer water. Will the ice melt? Yes. How fast will it melt? That is the big question! Many scientists say hundreds of years. But if warming increases faster than expected is could melt a lot faster than many anticipate.
Topics: Global Warming , Climate Change , Carbon Dioxide , Methane , Greenland
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