Warning: submerged permafrost is releasing methane
28 January 2018 | Written by La redazione
The Earth responds to climate change in interesting ways, sometimes producing what we call “feedbacks,” which can either amplify global warming or dampen it. One of those is the release of greenhouse gas from thawing permafrost—and regions of shallow seafloor that were frozen land thousands of years ago when sea level was much lower. The most dangerous-sounding issue involves methane hydrate, an ice-like substance full of methane that is present in some ocean sediments. Its sudden release is a suspect in some major extinction events.
