Permafrost ‘bubbles’ are leaking methane 200 times above the norm

Re:Permafrost ‘bubbles’ are leaking methane 200 times above ... by andyjohnson0 on Wednesday September 07, 2016 @06:11AM (#12442050)

> Methane has a greenhouse potential 25 times that of CO2.

True, although it decays to CO2 and water after about twelve years [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_potential#Value...

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Re:Permafrost ‘bubbles’ are leaking methane 200 times above ... by marvin on Wednesday September 07, 2016 @08:12AM (#12442654)

First time I've heard that methane decays so fast. Doesn't this dramatically reduce the practical warming effect of methane?

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Re:Permafrost ‘bubbles’ are leaking methane 200 times above ... by contravariant on Wednesday September 07, 2016 @09:54AM (#12443368)

It does, but according to the Wikipedia article the '25 times' figure seems to have taken that into account. Methane has a 25 times (or 34 times according to more recent estimates) larger effect than an equivalent mass of CO2 over 100 years. When measured over the first 20 years this rises to 70~80 times.

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Re:Permafrost ‘bubbles’ are leaking methane 200 times above ... by strommen on Wednesday September 07, 2016 @09:55AM (#12443374)

The factor of 25 is over a 100-year time period, and accounts for this decay.

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Re:Permafrost ‘bubbles’ are leaking methane 200 times above ... by zamalek on Wednesday September 07, 2016 @08:16AM (#12442682)

At least there's a ray of hope. The problem is that we don't know how much CH4 is locked away in pockets like this.

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