The climate change monster living on the ocean floor

 

Way down deep in the Arctic Ocean and along our ocean floor lie one of our planet's biggest threats: Methane Hydrates.

Methane hydrates store massive amounts of methane gas in the sediment along the ocean floor and in the frozen Arctic Ocean; those compounds prevent the dangerous gas from leaking into the atmosphere.

But here's the big, scary problem: the warming of the oceans can cause the methane hydrates to release into the atmosphere.

We're already seeing signs of it happening in the Arctic Oceans. Scientists are already witnessing indications that methane is being released in Eastern Siberia to the Laptev Sea.

Methane is a huge driver of the climate crisis. Methane has 80 times more climate-warming power than carbon pollution over a 20 year period and is responsible for at least 25% of the warming of the planet.

We do have some good news in the fight to regulate dangerous methane—the Senate voted last week to reinstate the Obama methane rule that requires companies to monitor, capture and plug any methane leaks from oil and gas wells. The White House supports the move by the Senate and called methane "a potent climate-disrupting greenhouse gas that is responsible for approximately one-third of the global warming."

They're absolutely right. But we're going to need a plan to prevent methane emissions from entering the atmosphere above the ground AND below. We will continue to do whatever we can to raise awareness about the dangers methane hydrates pose to our climate and our very way of life.

We have only one planet, let's not mess it up.

In solidarity,

Rob

Global Warming Solutions
P.O. Box 380349
Cambridge, MA 02238
United States