Economic time bomb As the amount of Arctic sea ice declines at an - TopicsExpress



          

Economic time bomb As the amount of Arctic sea ice declines at an unprecedented rate4, 5, the thawing of offshore permafrost releases methane. A 50-gigatonne (Gt) reservoir of methane, stored in the form of hydrates, exists on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. It is likely to be emitted as the seabed warms, either steadily over 50 years or suddenly6. Higher methane concentrations in the atmosphere will accelerate global warming and hasten local changes in the Arctic, speeding up sea-ice retreat, reducing the reflection of solar energy and accelerating the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. The ramifications will be felt far from the poles.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 01:29:59 +0000

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