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Lake Boils Over With Methane
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by ScienceDave | September 11, 2007 at 06:35 am
1059 views | 19 Recommendations | 4 comments
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Methane is the simplest single carbon containing molecule - one atom of carbon, surrounded by four hydrogen atoms. Its chemical make up makes it a potent greehouse gas, on average ~25 times worse than carbon dioxide. However, given that there is over 200 times more carbon dioxide in atmosphere, it accounts for less than 10% of the current greenhouse effect caused by CO2 [source].
What makes methane particularly interesting for climate scientists to study is that there exist significant unknowns in its distribution and global budget (i.e. how much is there, where is it coming from, how does these change with time?). For example, according to the IPCC, "...local emissions
from most types of natural wetland can vary by a few orders of magnitude over
a few metres." [source]
Another terrestrial source of methane: lakes. As organic matter sinks to the bottom (from sources like melting permafrost), bacteria making a living munching away on it - using up all the oxygen, and producing carbon dioxide. For a variety of physiological reasons, some bacteria produce methane instead of carbon dioxide. However, the flux of methane from lakes is a one of the big unknowns already mentioned.
That's what assistant professor Katey Walter from Univ. Alaska Fairbanks is set out to determine.
“It was cold, wet and windy. We were dropped off in the middle of nowhere by a helicopter and paddled out to a huge methane plume in the middle of the lake with no idea what to expect, how strong the bubbling plume would be, whether or not our raft would stay afloat, how dangerous it would be to breath the gas,” said Walter, an assistant professor in UAF’s Institute of Northern Engineering and International Arctic Research Center. “The violent streams of bubbles made the lake appear as if it were boiling, but the water was pretty cold.“It is unlikely that this methane plume was related to permafrost
thaw,” said Walter, adding that the methane boiling out of the lake was
more likely related to natural gas seepage. “Should large quantities of
methane be released from methane hydrates, for instance, in association
with permafrost thaw, then we could have large sudden increases in
atmospheric methane with potentially large affects on global
temperatures.”
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babetros
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 07:09 on September 11th, 2007
ScienceDave, great science coverage as always -- thanks for this.
at 07:50 on September 11th, 2007
at 08:26 on September 11th, 2007
Always informative, ScienceDave!
at 19:59 on September 11th, 2007
ScienceDave, I like this story. It's good stuff.
EEK is is terrible. That could mean that the frozen Methane (Natural Gas) has melted. Methane is the worst Greenhouse gas by about a factor of 10. This could be the Harbinger of a larger catastophy.