Friday, April 11, 2014

METHANE (CH4) ... through arrogance, greed, and abandon.. it has now become the single most important topic of our time..


"You might not be interested in climate change... 
but climate change is interested in you."


 Clathrate Gun Hypothesis
"The clathrate gun hypothesis is the popular name given to the hypothesis that rises in sea temperatures can trigger the sudden intense release of methane from methane clathrate compounds buried in seabeds and permafrost which, because the methane itself is a powerful greenhouse gas, leads to further temperature rise and further methane clathrate destabilization – in effect initiating a runaway process as irreversible, once started, as the firing of a gun."

The Real Weapons of Mass Destruction - Methane


I've previously posted concerning the increasing awareness of our planet's envelopment by atmospheric methane.. but considering that the impending situation is just so absolutely ominous, it has of necessity to be 'THE' ever recurring number one story. Anything other, no matter how important, totally pales in comparison... as a world society we must be made more aware.. and start to prepare.


 Permafrost Methane Time Bomb - NBC News


Please take your time... go through all the web links in this post.. DO NOT dismiss any of them out-of-hand... they are WAY too important. And make special note to watch fully towards the very end the video "Arctic Death Spiral and the Methane Time Bomb" . 
Also, be sure and share this video with as many others as possible.. the crises importance of its' message cannot be overstated.


Increasing Methane concentrations in the atmosphere is an explosive topic growing exponentially in importance. We should and must be hearing increased warnings over the next months and years. The longer it takes for this message to break into mainstream thought and dialogue, the more serious the ultimate consequences for all of us will be.

(There will be continually added items to this post.. bookmark the link, and check back ...
source... http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/

 Methane Tracker | Atmospheric methane 3D visualizations in Google Earth

Arctic Methane Catastrophe


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  • 4.15.14 - .. yes, #1 is no question crucial..  yet unless we make climate a LOT more important for the majority, we remain heading into an exceptionally dubious future !!
 ... in addition to rapidly melting permafrost.. methane is being released into the atmosphere from LOTS of varying sources...

     ... and don't for a second think permafrost is rapidly melting only in the Arctic ...
    "Scientists have documented an acceleration in the melt rate of permafrost in a part of Antarctica where the ice had been considered stable. The melt rates are comparable with the Arctic and could preview melting permafrost in other parts of a warming Antarctica...  scientists found melt rates accelerated consistently from 2001 to 2012, rising to about 10 times the historical average."
     Dr. Shakhova's underlying emotional replies in this video interview are exceptionally telling.
     
    Dr. Natalia Shakhova leads the Russia-U.S. Methane Study at the International Arctic Research Center, at University Alaska Fairbanks and Pacific Oceanological Institute, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences.  

    Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane, a greenhouse gas 20+ times more potent than carbon dioxide [over a 100-year time-span], have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region. The scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the heads of the Russian research team who have been surveying the seabed of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years. 

    “Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only several meters in diameter. Now we’re finding continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures more than 1,000 meters in diameter. It’s absolutely astonishing. We were most impressed by the sheer scale and high density of the plumes. Over a relatively small area we found more than 100, but over a wider area there should be thousands of them.”  


    "Should we be concerned?"... You better believe it !!



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    Current climate change models do not take into account increasing concentrations of methane, so scientists will have to look into the past for guidance.  Research conducted by the National Science Foundation in 2008, shows that 635 million years ago there was a catastrophic, abrupt change in climate.  The release of enormous amounts of methane is believed to have triggered the quick change from a frozen 'snowball' Earth to a planet tens of degrees warmer.
     
    Could the Earth warm this dramatically any time soon? What are the consequences to the oceans, the weather, and the chemical and biological processes necessary for life?  While the answers to these questions will most likely be exceptionally alarming... seeing as how far we have already come, there's probably not much we can do now at this late date to solve this methane issue. The way our society is now functioning, and most like will continue to function for the foreseeable future, our best course of action is to fully begin to understand and accept the consequences on the horizon, and initiate the preparation for these inevitable events which are surely to come.

    Remember we're not talkin here about bringing things back to 'the way they were'.. that's never again going to be possible. What were hoping to prevent is the ultimate worse case scenario.. there's a chance yet for that.. but the window is closing fast. The longer things get drawn out, and our fossil fuel addiction continues.. well, that's the dialogue that everyone's now pretty much still avoiding... for the unthinkable is just that...

     ... and what must happen before anything will truly change.. one of the most incredible minds in human history said it brilliantly and succinctly...
    ..."The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking."  ~ Albert Einstein

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    Arctic Death Spiral... and the 'Methane Time Bomb'

    (don't think of not watching the whole of this crucial film.. and pass it on to everyone you know)

     

     Pay close attention to the period near the 20 minute mark, where they talk about the accelerating 'speed-of-change'.. that's what should be scarin-the-crap out of everyone today !! 

    It's now been 20+ years since a 12yo Severn Suzuki spoke brilliantly at the 1992 UN Earth Summit, (watch it again towards the very end of the film).. and then realize how frustratingly little we have advanced our cause since that time. 

    ... today you can follow her on twitter..  Severn Suzuki     and     severncullissuzuki.com

     

     


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      "When history looks back, it will prove what I'll die knowing." 

     

     

      

    Posted by at 2:35 PM