Re:Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
by randycupertino on Saturday November 21, 2020 @01:38PM
(#25171683)
Is there an estimated timeframe on approximately when this will happen?
Re:Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
by irrational on Saturday November 21, 2020 @01:56PM
(#25171831)
Isn’t it already happening? Is that what is creating the huge methane explosions and craters in Siberia?
Re:Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
by samiru on Saturday November 21, 2020 @02:11PM
(#25171950)
Yes. Check the Yamal Peninsula in Google Maps and you realize this kind of cratering is a process that has been going on for thousands of years (since the ice age really!).
Re:Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
by knowaveragejoe on Saturday November 21, 2020 @02:42PM
(#25172229)
The scary part is that it's accelerating in on a timescale that's relevant to our needs as a species.
Re:Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
by omgwtfbyobbq on Saturday November 21, 2020 @03:08PM
(#25172406)
I think the largest deposits would take thousands of years to be affected, but there are shallow deposits that could be released, especially those near glaciers, where the glacier melting allows the nearby seabed to rise.
Re:Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
by blisterpeanuts on Saturday November 21, 2020 @01:42PM
(#25171723)
What kind of quantity of newly released methane are we talking about, compared to the methane produced by trees and other plants?[1]
1. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=515109...
Re:Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
by adrianN on Saturday November 21, 2020 @02:00PM
(#25171860)
1% of the carbon stored in the permafrost is roughly as much a all of humanity is currently emitting per year. It's a lot. Permafrost thawing is an important tipping point in the climate system.
Re:Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
by sp332 on Saturday November 21, 2020 @01:54PM
(#25171825)
Yeah, it's a lot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_methane_emissions
Re:Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
by clydethefrog on Saturday November 21, 2020 @03:08PM
(#25172409)
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_methane_emissions : The Permian–Triassic extinction event (the Great Dying) may have been caused by release of methane from clathrates. An estimated 52% of marine genus became extinct, representing 96% of all marine species.